Mom’s iPhone App Helped Police Rescue Kidnapped Daughter

A woman from Pennsylavnia who was allegedly kidnapped by her boyfriend was rescued by the police with the help of her mother's iPhone tracking app. The suspect is now behind bars, facing multiple charges including kidnapping.

ABC News reported that a woman was kidnapped in East Stroudsburg last Tuesday after she agreed to meet with her 18-year-old ex-boyfriend, Joseph Boller, to discuss the custody of their child. The police said that the suspect allegedly duct-taped the woman's hands, feet and mouth, and loaded her in the car with the baby.

The state police said the woman's mother notified them after she received a text message from her daughter asking for help. They were able to track the victim's cellphone using her mother's iCloud Find My iPhone app.

The ex-couple traveled from East Stroudsburg to a McDonald's in Milesburg, after the suspect dropped their baby to a friend's house. The whole incident lasted for about five hours.

"There was probably domestic violence, physical, emotional, in the past between these two just because the level of violence escalated so quickly," Lauren Peterson, executive director of Monroe County Women's Resource Center, told Newswatch 16. "Because she made it out alive and unharmed relatively, and her child, she did the right things."

"This is why it is so important for us to be talking to our young people, both boys and girls, what is a healthy relationship. What isn't a healthy relationship, respect, boundaries," Peterson added.

Commenting about the iPhone app that play a big role in rescuing the victim, Brian Webbe, detective of Monroe County District Attorney's Office, said all iPhones have such app, it only need to be activated. "If your phone is lost or stolen, it helps you recover the phone. Obviously in this case it had a much more significant impact, and it was able to rescue a kidnapping victim."

Boller is now in custody of the police and has a preliminary hearing scheduled on Feb. 24. He is facing kidnapping and other charges.