Isn’t there a “find my phone” app for the iPhone and iPad? If so, they should be able to track this to where it currently resides.
only when the device is turned on and can make a connection to the internet
If it was set up before it was stolen, it would locate the device, plus also keep the device locked, or eventually erase the device, if the owner wants.
Yes, absolutely but the police warn you that going to the house a demanding your iPad back can be dangerous,
Of course. Apple invented the concept. . . and integrated it in their iPhones, iPads, and IMacs operating systems, not as an app. . . before Android was released.
However it is apparent this guy did not turn on his basic password protections, much less take advantage of more sophisticated security. Had he done so, the ipad could have been remotely bricked so it could not even be restored by anyone except it official owner. He chose instead NOT to be inconvenienced by having to input a passcode. That was stupid. Without that passcode, he left his ipad vulnerable to any thief to access anything including turning off such things as "FindMyIPhone", Remote Bricking, etc.
According to the article:
"I do have a Track my iPad (app)," Schaefer said. "But by the time I tried to use that, it showed it was offline. It didn't even show that it was at the Starbucks or the Burger King."
I'll guess that the thieves showed it to one of their buddies and someone pointed out that it could be tracked.
Or, it simply hasn't connected to a WiFi access point since then. From the article:
"I think maybe (the iPad) had gotten onto [Starbuck's] network," Schaefer said. "That's when it backed up the pictures they had taken from Burger King on the iCloud."
If it's a WiFi-only iPad, it can only report position when it is connected to a WiFi access point. Unless you have it configured to automatically connect to a "public" WiFi network, it may not do so -- unless the thief connects to one themselves. After 24 hours, the last known position is no longer available.
And even then, it only knows the location of a WiFi access point if Apple has the device ID (of the access point) in their database. Someone else's Apple device with GPS would have had to "hear" the access point and report their location at some point in the past. But, the location isn't as accurate as GPS.
On the iCloud web portal, you can request an email if the device comes online. But, I don't know if that requires the latest version of iOS.
I posted this in another reply, but I think it's worth repeating:
Even if you haven't set a device passcode, you can't turn off "Find My iPad/iPhone" without entering the password for your Apple ID. This functionality was added in iOS 7: