California Highway Patrol officers managed to locate a missing woman whose vehicle had plunged 500 feet down a ravine using Find My iPhone, reports ABC News. 28-year-old Melissa Vasquez had been ejected from her car and been missing for 17 hours when found by officers.
Sometime after 2 p.m. on Monday, OnStar informed police of crash that ripped two tires off a Chevy Cruze. The service said the car was at Highway 17 and Camden Avenue, near Vasquez' home. Officers responded but did not see an accident. OnStar then updated the location to downtown San Jose. Again, police found nothing. At 3 a.m. Vasquez's stepmother called police to report her daughter missing.
Campbell police Officer David Cameron went to Vasquez's house and found her iPad. He realized that he could use Find My iPhone to possibly track her location; however, there was a passcode on the device.
"I made an educated guess based on a series of common numbers people use for passwords and on the third attempt I was able to get in," Cameron said.
Within minutes the app had identified her location and just 20 minutes later rescuers were airlifting her out of the ravine.
A Coast Guard helicopter was called while officers walked down the embankment through heavy shrubbery. "The officers on the scene said she was face down. She was awake, coherent, and she was speaking to officers," said CHP Officer Ross Lee. Vasquez was put into an airlift basket and hoisted out of the ravine. She was rushed to the Regional Medical Center ICU suffering injuries to her legs and her abdomen.
"I think somebody was looking out for her. Things fell in place and had those things not fallen in place, it could have been a totally different story," Cameron said.
The CHP is still investigating the incident. It's unclear why the car ended up in the ravine. Drugs and alcohol, they say, do not appear to be a factor.
Take a look at the video below for more details...
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Comments (11)
Comments are closed for this article.
0
matrixmaniac - October 16, 2014 at 5:41am
Alcohol was not the issue, drugs were not the issue, but she was texting on her iPhone....
0
helmeet - October 16, 2014 at 3:08am
i'm using it almost everyday and it helps me a lot to track someone.. thanks apple
0
SimonSays - October 16, 2014 at 12:37am
OnStar failed, Find My iPhone FTW!!!! Glad she made it out alive!
0
Seanjuan - October 15, 2014 at 9:50pm
That's why apps like Find My Friends are great apps for families to use.
0
sillydrew - October 15, 2014 at 10:12pm
Agreed. People you don't need to use the app all the time but enable your friends and family to be able to track you so that if an event like this happens no one will need to try and figure out your password to locate you in a time of need.
0
justabrake - October 15, 2014 at 9:30pm
Smart cop !
0
Ken - October 15, 2014 at 11:27pm
Yea lucky guess too.
0
iAmMe - October 16, 2014 at 1:18am
Hmmm... Find My iPhone app on mine asks for the iCloud password not a passcode. Try it!
0
Bill - October 16, 2014 at 2:11am
1 - on smart cop. David was thinking straight
0
vanimox - October 16, 2014 at 7:30am
You are correct. I've been using the Find My iPhone app for about 1.5 years. It has always required a passcode before you can access it. Something with how the officer accessed her Find My iPhone is not adding up. She may have had a simple passcode like 1234, but that seems unusual. Does anyone find the ability to get this info a little off?
0
iAmMe - October 16, 2014 at 7:51am
If you'll watch the video, it says password though. The news may have a typo. This one also proves that some people just simply use easy to guess passwords and those celebrities (J. Lawrence) are one of these. This woman's weak password though saved her life while those celebs got their private photos exposed.
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