Missouri woman finds trunk full of stolen campaign signs with help of Apple AirTag
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KOLR) — A Missouri woman said she used a small tracking device to locate a presidential campaign sign that someone allegedly took from her yard, and during the search, uncovered a car trunk filled with more stolen signage.
Laura McCaskill, of Springfield, said she not only found her Harris-Walz campaign sign but confronted the person she believes nabbed it in a video shared with Nexstar's KOLR.
"This has been the fourth sign that’s been stolen from my yard," McCaskill said.
Frustrated by the alleged thefts, McCaskill and her partner, John, decided to take a different approach this time: They attached an Apple AirTag to a campaign sign.
When the sign was stolen over the weekend, the couple said the tracker led them to a Springfield restaurant and eventually to a home in Nixa.
"We ring the doorbell because [my partner] recognizes the car," McCaskill said.
After speaking with a neighbor, they managed to get in touch with a woman, who came outside to speak with McCaskill. KOLR is not naming the individuals McCaskill confronted, as no formal charges have been filed.
"We said hello, and we said we think that you have something in that car that was taken from our neighborhood,” McCaskill recalled telling the woman.
According to McCaskill, the woman said the car belonged to her son. McCaskill said she showed the young man the tracker on her phone, indicating that the AirTag was nearby. He then told McCaskill it was in the trunk of his car.
"I expected to find the AirTag, but not 59 signs. It was kind of like finding a dead body," McCaskill said. "Most people, they take them, and they throw them in a dumpster, or they throw them in someone else’s yard. It was like there was a bounty on [the signs]."
McCaskill recorded the confrontation and posted the video online. In the footage, multiple signs can be seen in the trunk before the young man’s mother apparently tosses them toward McCaskill and her partner, calling the situation "stupid."
“If I was just dealing with the young man, I would have been easier to forgive, but there was no accountability,” McCaskill said.
The young man eventually offered to help load the signs into McCaskill’s car. He also mentioned that his actions may have been inspired by a video he saw on TikTok.
When asked why he had McCaskill’s sign, given that the confrontation occurred in Nixa and McCaskill lives in Springfield, the young man said he was simply in the area.
McCaskill said she filed a police report on Monday. The other signs found in the car trunk are being held by the Springfield Police Department.
Another Springfield resident, Lynda Schibler, believes her sign was also among those found.
"You feel invaded when you put things out in your yard and then they disappear," Schibler said. "I think everybody should feel free to have signs in their yard and that they should respect everybody’s property, whatever their decision is."
KOLR reached out to Greene County Prosecutor Dan Patterson for comment regarding the legal ramifications of campaign sign stealing. Patterson referenced Missouri Statute 115.637, which classifies stealing or damaging campaign yard signs as a class four election offense, punishable by up to one year in jail or a $2,500 fine.