Bingo! I called Verizon and asked if there was any unusual traffic on her number and they confirmed it. I explained that the cell phone had gone missing and I suspected it had been stolen. They gave me a list of the recently called numbers. I started working my way down the list.
The fist several were time and temp calls. I got a couple of businesses and at least one confirmed they'd gotten a call about a carpet cleaning appointment. The next was a private residence, After I explained why I was calling, the woman said, “Not this again.”
It turns out her brother-in-law worked for a carpet cleaning company and she gave me the BIL’s name. I called the company and explained the situation to the boss. He was aghast and I told him I'd keep him informed. The next phone number got the employee's home answering machine, so I left a callback number. Then I called the sheriff's office and filed a complaint.
Several hours later I got a call from the BIL. He confirmed that he had the phone, but he maintained that his partner had taken it. I explained that the stupidest thing he'd done was to use the phone because every call he'd made was logged with the time and length of call. Caught, the BIL tried to weasel out. I told him that he'd be visited by the sheriff's office because I'd filed a complaint. I told him that the best thing to do was to turn-in the phone to his boss and he agreed. It was done, I got the phone back, and the BIL was fired.
As part of his plea bargain to avoid jail time, the perp repaid me for the calls made plus my time and effort tracking him down. It took two years but the settlement was the ultimate satisfaction.
I had a credit card stolen from my office. I didn't know it was stolen until two days after the fact. I was already out of town and noticed the missing card. I informed my wife immediately. Hours later, she said my card was recovered in the bushes next to a janitorial business a few miles away. I recalled a goofy call to the front desk the day before I left. I looked at the time stamps of charges to the card. They traced a path from my office through several businesses and ended up in the North Park area of San Diego. I suspected the janitor. I asked security his name. I went to the phone book. He lives on Florida St in North Park. Gotcha! I turned over my detective work to the police department and company security. They set a "trap" and caught him red handed on video stealing a card.
Months passed. This janitor was a 6 ft 2" tall, 220 lb heavily muscled black man. He constantly told tales about his sick girl friend. When I shared that with the detective, he laughed his ass off. Girlfriend? Hell no. All the pretty stuff he bought at the department stores nearby was to dress up for his boyfriend. Ewww!. The guy stole $40,000 total from all the employees on my floor. He was let off with a hand slap. A poor, misunderstood black man. It took me weeks to get all the bad charges on my card resolved.