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?

OP if it’s a single male they will wander to try and find a mate(s). Their parents will have evicted them! They’ll wander quite some distance. Main sign since you have a dog will be him/her becoming agitated and sniffing excessively at points in the garden.

I didn’t realise you were talking about foxes. I was picturing a young lad who has been kicked out during lockdown.

Rural foxes would be unlikely to come that close to a house.
I grew up very rurally. The first time I saw a fox was when I moved to Manchester.

I wouldn't care for that.

I live on a gated compound (not U.K.) with 24 hour security patrols. The big hooha last year was when a phone was found in a garden!

The top security bloke checked the CCTV - turned out one of his lads was mooching in & out of gardens all night, & the phone was his.

He claimed that he'd been a bit overzealous & also got bored in his little sentry post, but it seemed a bit suspicious as he hadn't immediately come forward to say this & retrieve his phone - he would have known it had been found as all the guards were initially asked if they'd seen any possible intruders who might have dropped it etc.

The suspicion was that he was looking for unoccupied houses with unsecured back doors &/or occupied bathrooms & bedrooms at the back of the houses he could peep at, had dropped his phone & then when he realised, didn't know which garden he might have lost it in or couldn't find it in the dark, before the occupants discovered it the following morning.

Was where you found it somewhere someone might reasonably be if they were trying to find a way in/see up to the windows on the first floor?

Although I do think also an excellent chance of bored teenagers playing silly buggers. I found out quite recently that one of mine, a few years ago, spent a summer of boring holiday evenings 'exploring' the grounds of empty houses in the compound with a mate, & even on occasion sneaking in to houses which were being renovated...I was not impressed! Dangerous & antisocial behaviour - & she's usually my sensible one . In current lockdown could easily be kids 'going for a walk' but hopelessly bored with the same streets & lanes, so wandering into interesting looking gardens?!

Oil tank theft seems quite unlikely right now. The price of oil is as cheap as chips, down to about 20p per litre. It would probably cost more to steal than it's worth right now

Ahem, maybe there is a "dogging" site nearby? . The woods maybe?

you can charge a phone when it is in an aga when there is a plug near the aga: plug charger in the plug, plug the phone to the charger, put phone in aga, close door.

All the agas I've used have heavy, tight fitted doors, so that would cut the wire off. Yours has a different type of door then.

@Namechangex10000 @PatricksRum I have no understanding with Avalanche and she is gone I think, in the end t she was going to tell us her story if I gave her my address

@ponchek @Friendsofmine

My LO was stirring a lot last night and I ended up reading this at 3am. I came to pop by and see if you had any update or managed to get some sleep as I noticed you were up very late. Hope you get some sleep during the day, you may feel better knowing your dh is awake and it’s daylight. Regardless of what happened, feeing like your personal space has been invaded is a horrible, gut-sinking feeling. I really hope it is over for you now and you get some rest. Sending you love

Oil tank theft seems quite unlikely right now. The price of oil is as cheap as chips, down to about 20p per litre. It would probably cost more to steal than it's worth right now
My local area has had several lately which is what made me wonder about that being it. Which as you say is bonkers considering how cheap it is at the moment, buy your own! But still happening as thieves are arseholes!

Thepigeonsarecoming it took me a while to twig your post was about foxes, I had this image of a sort of barely clothed cave man snuffling angrily at OP's back door

I use a meat thermometer probe in ours and the doors haven't cut the wire off yet. There is a soft seal on the inside of the door.

@ponchec @Friendsofmine not everything that happens in the world is down to DHs being pigs.
As I said if that is the case then I will know, now, wont I?

^^^ Duh! Ignore that it was in response to a post pages back.

Could one of your kids have bought a cheap stolen phone off someone and not want to admit it ?

Oil tank is a possibility. Or spurned GF/BF of teens, seeking them out.

I think I'd set up a few booby traps. Fishing line across pathways attached to tin trays. Oh, maybe not, can see the downside of that if there is wildlife, or even strong winds.

The police's remit must have completely changed - domestic violence through the roof, Sat night rowdiness zero, footie match control zero. Drug dealing higher???.

@ScarredBunny I know! I'm baffled at the need for your personal details in order to expand on a different story.
And if there's no intention to share it why mention it and continue to do so whilst people aren't giving attention to it.

Or a random local has bought/acquired a 'hot' phone then panicked that it might be traceable?

Although you'd think then they'd smash it up & drop it into a litter bin, or maybe toss it into a garden immediately off the road, rather than leaving it in a remote garden where it would cause consternation as soon as it was found. Absolutely no way it could have landed there from a really good hard throw from outside the garden?

We had an attempted burglary a few years ago, DH had a downstairs window open (but was downstairs himself), walked into the room to find a young man had removed our possessions from the window sill and was climbing through the window. Obviously he scarpered, but amongst all of our stuff laid out on the lawn, we found a cheap burner type phone that he’d dropped as he climbed out of the window. The police actually came straight out, within a couple of minutes (there had been a series of burglaries in our local streets over that period of time) and searched the local streets and gardens but never got him. Took the phone too but we didn’t hear anything about it.

I think that I would be having an 'informal chat' individually with each of the children, just to double check that distancing rules haven't been broken by secret boy/girlfriends. Maybe it's one of those things that escalated and once the police were notified, they didn't want to own up.

Or sadly your DH if his 'super keen' reaction is something you've not seen before.

You’ve just casually said you’ve got a bridle way close by... how is that not the answer? Probably someone’s dog left the path to check out your dog and the owner had to follow it to get it to come back.

Keep with the lights, for a while. And see if you can get some security lights fitted too.
Make sure you have a phone at night upstairs and a torch, and charged mobile.
All just sensible things to do anyway.
A lady not far from here was telling me they had strange cars in front of their house one night, her disabled husband was shouting at them to go from the window.
They have a small farm house very visible from a short track just off the main road .
Asa consequence there is now a great big gate at their entrance and other security measures, her adult son lives in a nearby village and he sorted it out.

I would be spooked too OP, hope the police get back in touch with some news soon

@TheTrollFairy @PurpleCrowbarWhereIsLangCleg somewhere someone might reasonably be if they were trying to find a way in/see up to the windows on the first floor? Precisely
and I really like the idea of local teenagers being silly, it sounds plausible doesn't it?

@FlamingoAndJohn I know, same here reading the first lines!

@callmeadoctor oh gawd! Ten we would hear a lot of cars presumably.

@VanGoghsDog I am sure Agas all have the same doors since 1918 or whatever. Mine is very old, 1970s, the slow oven doors on the left don't have the big 'piping' insulation sealer.

Police were called etc, the track goes to there house, and no where else and it was about 4 in the morning

Their, not there. *

I really don’t believe a crow could fly a mile or so with an iphone plus ! Nor do I. It's nonsense