Mesa couple tracks stolen laptop thief via remote access

MESA, AZ - After someone stole a Mesa couple's laptop, they were able to communicate with the thief using a remote access program.

“The only thing I could think of at that moment—open a Microsoft Word document and type a message to him,” said Derrick Doba.

The laptop was stolen on September 14 from his office near Baseline Road and Mesa Drive.

Derrick told ABC15 he wanted to scare the thief into destroying the computer so the crook wouldn’t have access to their family photographs and information.

Derrick then typed, “Bring back our computer. We can see you. The police are on their way.” The connection was then cut.

A few days later, the new laptop Derrick ordered showed up and Derrick and his wife, Christiana, restored all of the files from the stolen computer off their online backup system, Carbonite.com.

Christiana said she discovered new pictures from the restored files that were not hers.

“I’m like, who is that?” she said.

Several scenic pictures as well as images of strangers and their pets had been uploaded. It appears the stolen laptop was still backing up files that had been added after the computer was stolen.

Carbonite traced the upload to Yuma, but the thief has not yet been identified or caught.

“We’re after him,” said Derrick, “and we’re not going to stop until he’s caught.”