EAST STROUDSBURG -- We’re learning new details about a kidnapping that happened in East Stroudsburg earlier this week.
Newswatch 16 spoke with experts about the iPhone app that possibly helped save an 18-year-old woman’s life.
According to court paperwork, the victim’s mother used the iCloud Find My iPhone app to track her kidnapped daughter’s location. It helped law enforcement arrest Joseph Boller, 18, of East Stroudsburg.
Boller is locked up behind bars after allegedly kidnapping his ex-girlfriend in East Stroudsburg Tuesday afternoon. Police said Boller duct-taped her hands together, put a blanket over her head, and loaded the victim and their baby in the car.
"There was probably domestic violence, physical, emotional, in the past between these two just because the level of violence escalated so quickly,” said Monroe County Women’s Resource Center Executive Director Lauren Peterson.
The baby was dropped at a friend’s house. Meanwhile, the pair traveled from East Stroudsburg about 153 miles to Milesburg along Interstate 80.
We knocked on Boller’s door near Marshalls Creek but no one answered.
Investigators say the iCloud Find My iPhone app led state police right to the victim at a McDonald’s in Milesburg. The victim was texting her mom for help.
"If your phone is lost or stolen, it helps you recover the phone. Obviously in this case it had a much more significant impact, and it was able to rescue a kidnapping victim,” said Monroe County District Attorney’s Office Detective Brian Webbe.
The victim’s phone had been wrapped in foil before she was able to grab it. Experts say it could have stopped her from getting help.
"It may, it can block the radio signal from being transmitted from the phone so you wouldn't be able to receive messages. It's almost like putting it in airplane mode,” said Detective Webbe.
According to court papers, the victim didn’t resist Boller, trying to keep him calm.
The whole ordeal lasted about five hours.
“Because she made it out alive and unharmed relatively, and her child, she did the right things,” said Peterson.
Now Boller is behind bars facing a slew of charges including kidnapping.
“This is why it is so important for us to be talking to our young people, both boys and girls, what is a healthy relationship. What isn't a healthy relationship, respect, boundaries,” said Peterson.
All iPhones have the Find My iPhone app, but detectives say you should check your settings to see if it is activated. It just could come in extremely handy in a dangerous situation.