Found a phone in my garden - isolated property - shit scared

[ScarredBunny]

Name changed for this - Sorry if this seem trivial, I know people are dealing with far bigger things at the moment.

I found a phone lying on the ground, about 5 yards from my house.

We live in an isolated property about a mile away from the first road. We have not have any visitors , maintenance people for many weeks (obviously). Delivery drivers, yes, but they would not have any reason to go to this part of the garden/couldn't access it during daytime without us seeing something.
At first I assumed it belonged to one of us, but no!
Phoned the police, have a ref./case number, etc. but they're busy and will get back to us when they can.
The police said to take the phone indoors and wait for their call/visit.

I am worried that the next visit is going to be from whomever the phone belongs to.
The phone is dead as a dodo but I assume it still can be found?

What should do?

Could it have been there for longer than you think? Have you tried charging it?

How old is the phone? Could be from ages and ages ago?

What kind of phone? If its a basic burner type, I would assume chucked by a drug dealer or similar

What are you so worried about?

Maybe you are missing the point Slith ?

Did it look newly dropped or weathered?

I'm guessing she's worried someone is lurking in the garden.

Rather; was

What are you scared about?

If they were still lurking there why would they have left their phone?
Someone could have chucked it there to get rid but it stands to reason that they wouldn't be coming back for it.

What make is it?

Thank you for your replies. The phone is apple, not old. It was not there yesterday morning. It doesn't charge at all.

Well, worried that someone is lurking under our windows in the middle of the night I suppose.

Id pick it up with gloves stick it in a plastic bag and leave it by the pavement.

Probably not helpful but we find random stuff in our garden from time to time, I think carried and dropped by birds. But we aren’t isolated. Big walls though so it’s not people throwing stuff.

I would be a bit scared in your circumstance. Good you’ve phoned the police.

I get it OP. It’s scary. If the phone is dead though it has probably been there for at least a few days.

If someone was coming back for it, it’s probable they would have done so within 24 hours of losing it.

There’s every chance they either don’t know where it is and/or have given it up for lost. Try not to worry.

Isn't it obvious that the OP is worried because someone who shouldn't be in her garden has been there? That's quite scary! Especially when you live in an isolated spot.
I can't imagine it can be traced when it's out of battery, but I could be wrong. Hope the police contact you soon OP.

could someone in your house have a secret phone?

A local crow used to bring us aging things (spoons, coins etc) and leave them on our garden wall. It once brought a knife. Obviously, this could have been very scary had we not seen him at it months prior.

Slith is joking with you because it's scared not scarred. Scarred means you have an injury, a scar.

Are you sure it's not your husbands secret phone?

Why do some people not bother reading the OP properly before commenting?

Why on earth would a drug dealer drop their phone in the garden of a property that is a mile from the nearest road? They were just passing through on their way to do some bird watching before the next drug deal?

Of course OP is a bit freaked out, as it obviously means someone has been in her garden, which is isolated, and therefore vulnerable.

OP, all you can do is follow the police advice, I think, but also check the security of your doors and windows.

How long have you tried keeping it plugged in to charge for? Sometimes if it hasn’t been charged for ages they take a while to come on.

How old an Apple is it? If it’s old and the battery is dead then it’s basically worthless and may just have been chucked by someone fly tipping.

@Slith ha! Nice one😂

Op, it could very well be someone taking a walk, sorry, exercising, and ignoring that it's a private property. There was already thread mentioning stuff like this. Do you have fences?

Thank you all, it's good to have your opinions/reactions!
It looked as if it had spent the night outdoors, a little wet, but maybe it has been there longer if it is dead? I don't know.

The dog was barking at something last night but I didn't take it seriously.

Nothing is impossible but it would be odd for a bird to drop it, it's one of the big ones...

I even thought of the secret phone option - seems unlikely - but who knows.

I googled it and apparently there is still a signal for location even on a dead phone. If that's the case I don't really want someone to try and break in to get it. Anyone knows about this sort of things?

I'm pretty sure on an iPhone it needs to be turned on and connected to the internet to track the location. Mine definitely does.