Many Lawrence and nearby residents are not alone after finding themselves missing keys, a wallet, their ID or other valuables after a Kansas City man broke into their cars or homes.

Jonah Kahn | jonah.kahn@ku.edu

The Lawrence Kansas Police Department (LKPD) is working to return more than $10,000 worth of stolen items after arresting a man on April 21 at the Motel 6 on North 3rd Street. 

Police made the arrest after a resident used the Find My Device app on their phone to track their stolen AirPods to the motel, and subsequently called police for assistance in retrieving them. 

After discovering more groups of stolen items, the LKPD turned to Facebook to return the items back to their owners. 

Some of these items included IDs, keys, different types of electrical cords, a stolen vehicle and even illegal drugs. 

“So one of the people that called the day prior on the 20th had used the Find My iPhone app, and they were tracking Apple AirPods,” LKPD detective Evan Curtis said. “They had tracked it to Motel Six and requested assistance with retrieving their AirPods.” 

The suspect arrested is from Kansas City, and officers discovered he had also stolen items from the Kansas City metro area, Lawrence and Topeka. 

The post on the LKPD’s Facebook shows some of the hundreds of items. 

LKPD is already connecting some people to their items, including Jake Lickteig, who found his guitar missing after his car was broken into.

“Either the car was unlocked or the hatch got left open by one of the kids,” Lickteig said. “So when we realized that first thing in the morning, or my wife said, well, the back hatch is open, that was the first thing I thought about was that thing was gone, and sure enough, it was.”

As LKPD continues to sort through all the times, they ask for patience and will provide information in the coming days and weeks about how to get residents’ missing items back. 

Lawrence Police will call people individually if they have connected stolen items to a specific case. Additional charges will be made as more victims come forward or are identified. 

LKPD emphasized how important it was that the AirPods owner did not try to get their AirPods back at the motel alone but instead called the police first.