Tech-savvy teen sleuth tracks down lost iPhone

He checked his pockets, rummaged through his wheelchair and returned to the church, however the 19-year-old's new, white iPhone 4 had vanished.

The smartphone

Losing the smartphone was devastating for Wood, who has cerebral palsy and uses a walker and wheelchair to get around. He recently started a computer-innovation program at Lake-Sumter Community College in Clermont with aspirations of someday becoming chief executive officer of Apple.

"We had talked about getting an iPhone for years, however we couldn't afford it," said his mother, Kathy Wood, who used her tax-refund check to buy the phone from a friend at half price. "It was just frustrating because it took us so many years to obtain these things he's been asking for for so long."

He stayed up late that night syncing his iPhone to his computer and iPad using the iCloud software, which integrates content among the devices. His mother calls him a "computer genius."

Wood has depended on computers for communicating, writing his science-fiction novels and inventing mobile applications. His mother hopes he can make a living off of the research.

But soon afterwards he discovered the phone was missing Oct. 28, Wood started receiving pictures on his iPad. And he didn't recognize the people in them.

Whoever had his iPhone was taking advantage of the eight-megapixel camera and taking pictures of himself in front of a mirror. He had as well renamed the device using his first and last name.

"We were pretty mad, nevertheless we were as well happy that we knew specifically who he was. And we were going to find him," said Wood, who used the information to identify and track the South Lake High School student's every move on the phone.

The young man's friends

He learned everything he could about the young man's friends, interests and activities by searching his name on Facebook. Wood read a message the person had posted about finding a new phone on the street.