Passenger uses Apple Watch pings to find missing luggage at Florida airport worker's home

A Spirit Airlines passenger used her Apple Watch to find her missing luggage, only to find it at the home of a Fort Lauderdale airport retail worker.

Paola Garcia was waiting at Carousel 4 of Terminal 4 at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport to collect her luggage; however, her pink hardshell suitcase never made it onto the conveyor belt, she told Local10.

“In my mind, I think I need my computer because I'm going to college, I need my computer no matter what,” Garcia said. “I was waiting there for at least two hours.”

The passenger reported her problem to Spirit Airlines. The airline said it would send his luggage to his address.

However, the morning after her flight, she realized that her Apple Watch packed in her suitcase had started sending a signal not from the airport, but from a house in Fort Lauderdale.

What Garcia didn't know at the time was that his suitcase was allegedly stolen by Junior Bazile, 29, who in surveillance footage was seen rummaging through the suitcase in the back of his car. 'an airport retail store where he worked. according to an arrest affidavit and photos obtained by the news outlet.

Bazile allegedly took various items out of the case and then placed Garcia's suitcase in a clear plastic bag, according to the police report.

Garcia told the local outlet that after receiving the signal from her Apple Watch, she decided to go home herself because she had a “test that day” and she had need his computer.

Once she arrived, she reportedly saw a number of suitcases all over the property and decided to call 911.

“The first thing the police said to me was, 'What are you doing here?' It’s so dangerous for you to be here,” Garcia said in the interview.

A Broward Sheriff's Office detective then entered the home address into an internal airport database and discovered that Bazile worked at a retail store inside the airport and that he was registered as working the day Garcia's suitcase went missing.

Bazile was then arrested by police and charged with grand theft, the outlet reports.

A few days later, Bazile appeared in court for a hearing on the status of the charge. When asked by Local10 about the alleged theft of the items, he replied: “Leave.”

Spirit Airlines told the outlet that it had “issued a refund check to the customer as a courtesy, although we are currently not aware of any evidence that a Spirit employee was involved.”

“We take any allegations of this nature seriously and are investigating,” they added.

The sheriff's office also said the incident remains under investigation.

The independent has contacted the Broward Sheriff's Office, Spirit Airlines and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport for comment.