The suspect was finally arrested and Ms Jane was reunited with her laptop. (Representative pic)
A woman whose laptop was stolen at a US airport took matters into her own hands to get it back after the thief tried to blackmail her. According to NBC4 Washington, the woman, identified as Jane, was flying home via Dulles International Airport in Virginia when her backpack, which contained her 10-year-old laptop, was swiped. She reported the crime to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA), who found the footage of the robbery and the police identified the thief as an employee of Smarte Carte, a company that provides passengers with luggage carts at the airport.
According to NBC4, Ms Jane said that even though the police identified the employee, he was not immediately arrested and was allowed to stay on the job for more than a month while the investigation continued. "They couldn't arrest him yet because they needed more in order to get a search warrant to get my computer back," she told the outlet.
However, things changed when Ms Jane received a message one morning from an anonymous Instagram account, which contained a nude photo of herself. She said that she had no doubt where the photo came from. It was part of an art project stored on her laptop and said she hadn't sent it to anyone.
Ms Jane immediately contacted the MWAA investigator working on her case. She was told that if she felt comfortable, she should try to talk to the person who sent her the message. "I really didn't want to, but I wanted to get my computer back," she said.
When Ms Jane replied to the message, the Instagram user who'd contacted her said he wanted more photos and $3,000. "I think he just saw an opportunity to try and blackmail me," she said, adding, "I was very upset. I'd never been in a situation like this before".
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Ms Jane then sprang into action and used an online search tool to uncover the man's IP address and GPS coordinates. The IP address was registered in Springfield, Virginia.
The cops were then able to use that information to conduct surveillance and ultimately obtain a search warrant. The suspect was finally arrested and Ms Jane was reunited with her laptop, although its contents had been erased, as per the outlet.
Ms Jane also sued the suspect in small claims court, and the case was eventually settled. The suspect pleaded guilty to petit larceny and received 12 months of probation. His employment with Smarte Carte was terminated when the airport authorities suspended his security badge.