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 the postie have dropped their phone?

@VanGoghsDog - Since your house is so remote, it's irrelevant whether they "locate" their phone inside or outside your house, isn't it? You are unreal. There is a difference. Maybe you live in a cave?

(which you think they have been to before anyway, so not sure why they need to follow the phone seeker, but anyway) How do you know that they know for sure where exactly they left their phone? It might have slipped out of a pocket; if they had been using it as a torch they would have seen it and picked it up surely.

I'm not sure the seekers are quite so precise as to show whether the phone is inside or outside the house. On icloud I can see which part of the house the phones are in, it's that precise. Maybe educate yourself before you argue.

Course, they might not be bad people. The owner might trace it and just knock on your door and ask if you've seen it. I don't care for the sort of people who lurk near my house in the middle of the night.
If, say, the phone was stolen and then lost in my garden and the real owner traced it and came and knocked on my door wanting their phone, that could be unpleasant. You don't think, at all, do you?

I suspect it's stolen. Maybe part of a haul and they realised it was a dud, or couldn't charge it, and just chucked it over the fence, not realising it was a garden How many times? You can't throw that far from the road (1 mile) or from the gate (too far and trees) even if they managed to lob it over the trees, it would probably land on the roof of an outbuilding and make some noise.

Thanks for the tip about crime in rural areas.

I find you dense and tiresome, will you go away please.

Thank you @areallthenamesusedup I seem to be rattling some cages for sure. Not sure why.

@5zeds - You misunderstand, I am just trying to describe the setting, No neighbours, one mile off a road,(10 minutes on a bike? Try a higher gear it'll be easier.), fields and woods as far as the eye can see and one house visible (absolutely tiny way out there from here) depending on the weather, what would you call it?
I'm fine with it being 1/2 miles off the road, I chose to live here you know.

@georgialondon - strange. All chewed up, no?

@LilacTree1, Thank you for the flowers! I do feel a little more settled.

This must have really frightened you. Sadly there are burglars who will travel to remote locations hoping to break into people's houses. No nosy neighbours or cameras etc. Im not so sure the police can do anything even if they do trace the owner of the phone. Likely they will say it was stolen or lost sometime previous. Realistically the thing to do now is up your security which im sure you have done. Motion sensor lights, alarm system. I know you said you have a dog which is great for deterring burglars however it might be an idea to think about getting a german shepherd? Fantastic family dogs and perfect to scare away any unwanted visitor. I have one and he patrols the inside of our house at night like a huge hairy security guard! A big softy although very scary to anyone looking in through the window. Just a thought. Try if you can to put it behind you. It is highly unlikely they will return as im sure they will want as much distance as possible between themselves and that phone. They would be taking an immense risk returning for it. Unlikely they would have used it as a torch and highly likely they had it on mute so they're probably thinking they lost in on the way or where/if they parked their car.
Try not to let it interfere with your life although im sure thats easier said than done.

@Bettysnow In fact there could be more instances of burglary in remote properties now, since it's more difficult in built up areas, everyone being at home all the time, not a lot of traffic, anything not right stands out now and attracts attention.
I used to have a german shepherd I love them! they are so lovely and loving. As you say, really fantastic guardians because people are really scared of them. They don't need to do anything, but they would.
This is the best idea! 2 days ago it was still, no, one dog is enough, but now I want one.Where did you get yours?

I will calm down eventually, but tonight looks like a vigil again, can't unwind, started thinking bad things.
But you are making some good points, maybe we are a pass for them now? - There was a barky dog, some nutter (me) still out and about in the early hours,.As you say there is some risk of being linked to the phone if they return but really not that much, the police isn't here waiting for them? Am I missing something?
Thank you for the flowers

The most likely reason is the most probable. Someone was scoping out your house maybe using the phone as a torch or whatever and dropped it, when you let the dog out, and legged it. Wild animals carrying a phone over some distance and then happen to drop it in your garden is a bit of a stretch. Same with handgliders.

We had a spate of burglaries in this area last year where expensive garden furniture and a statue were taken from the more remote gardens overnight. We have even had cases of lead being taken from roofs with the occupants in the house. Someone has already mentioned Google Earth which has apparently been a boon for burglars and they look for large gardens and especially swimming pools. I am not trying to put the fear of God into you! Leaving outside lights on might be a good idea. Your dog probably did the trick anyway. You also might want to look for chalk markings on the road by the turning for your house and remove them as they have also been used round here to highlight a house worth stealing from.

Good luck OP. That must have been scary. You have had some odd replies on your thread.

@ScarredBunny yes and covered in fox wee

Do you think the police might dust the phone for prints? That might identify if a known criminal had possession of it for a while. It sounds as if it is too expensive for a burner phone so could be the personal phone of whoever lost it and so more likely to have been used without gloves.

Dust for prints when there's no evidence a crime has been committed??? These days they often don't bother dusting for prints when a crime has been committed!!!

You need a new family member, OP

www.germanshepherdrescue.co.uk/

Sergei needs a rural home......!

Just a few rabid ones who just won't take the salient points on board but still assume they know better. I wonder what it really is, that enrages them so much

I haven't seen anyone rabid or enraged except you, being rude to people.

The reason people are responding the way they have is because of all the inconsistencies and incredible "facts" in your story.

I keep coming on to see if there is any news from the police or anything and to see if you are OK op, but you do seem to be quite rude at times to people, not sure there is any need for that?

Most people are really quite nice!

It's a shame you don't appear to be one of them OP.

Why is

I actually dreamt about foxes last night. Sure it was this thread!

I don't know why people are being such arses OP.

I think it was more likely to be a person OP. Hopefully it was an opportunistic crime and they have been scared off by your dog. Rural crime is a big issue and I expect some are making the most of all those empty holiday homes.
I would invest in some CCTV.

I’d probably be getting all ‘Home Alone’ on the garden, setting trip wires on the perimeter. Got any bells?

I think there are always people looking to cause drama. Hope it wasn't anything sinister op as imagine it is very unsettling not knowing

OP 💐🌷🌻🌺💐

Foxes are cheeky beggars
We live rurally and don't often see them as they tend to steer clear of us but occasionally they will come right up to the house and peer in the conservatory windows
They are frequent visitors though and have moved kids toys left in the garden, buried and chewed stuff as well as hunting pigeons on a regular basis. The kids footballs are regular casualties to the foxes.
I know they've been usually as I find their poop. One buried a huge dead headless chicken in our vegetable patch obviously saving it for later - the odd thing was all the people we know who have chickens weren't missing any so god knows where it got it from, it must have brought it some way to bury it, we also found various CDs it had buried in the same patch in little piles 🧐

mystery solved.

So was Avalanche's "story" a windup all along? Her posts reminded me of the Log Lady in Twin Peaks...

I'm still astounded by the number of posters who think OP and the police are overreacting over "a dropped phone". She's been quite clear that this is roughly equivalent to waking up to find a phone in the middle of your kitchen floor, and even if there's a plausible explanation (foxes etc.) there's a very sizeable likelihood that it's evidence of an attempted intrusion.