According to the WPXI newswire, Dave Longstreth discovered his bag - containing two iPhones, a camera, money and credit cards - was stolen poolside while he swam.
After returning to his room and logging into the `Find my iPhone' app portal, Longstreth found the GPS on one of the iPhones as flagging the handset was on the hotel boat dock.
Longstreth then ran down to the hotel's boat dock, "where he saw a suspicious-looking man carrying a black bag. Security had already been summoned, but the suspect got onto a ferry boat headed for the Magic Kingdom", says the newswire.
A colleague then borrowed another iPhone, downloaded the app and logged in, and Longstreth says he tracked his own handset at 400 yards in the dock area, where the boat was.
"The technology helped police arrest David Bain, of Orlando, as he got off the ferry. Inside his backpack were the stolen goods", the newswire added.
The moral of the story here seems to be - as with recent reports of stolen iPhones and iPads - that apps like `find my iPhone' and `Mobileme' can assist owners in tracking their handsets.
There is a twist to this technology, however, as there are reports on some security forums of thieves using portable GPS jammers - which cost from around £120.00 and are effective to a range of five metres.
Originally developed for test purposes, these jammers, though illegal in many jurisdictions, Infosecurity notes, are now being used by tech-savvy criminals seeking to block laptop and other portable technology devices that use tracking signals to locate themselves.