The Austin Police Department is pleased to announce that a number of phones stolen from persons attending WEEKEND ONE of the Austin City Limits Music Festival (October 4-6, 2018) have been recovered and are ready to be reunited with their owner.

Investigators with the Osceola County Sheriff’s Department in Kissimmee, Florida intercepted a package and discovered a large number of cell phones had been shipped from Austin to Florida. An operation was conducted, resulting in the arrest of three Colombian nationals:

• Edward Javier Garcia-Castano, age 34
• Estivenson Blanco-Rubiano, age 34
• Wilmer Arias-Arias, age 25

All three were charged by the Federal Bureau of Investigations for trafficking in stolen property across state lines. Immigration and Customs Enforcement then deported the trio back to Colombia for immigration offenses.

No local charges will be filed.

ACL Fest and crowdfind.com are partnering with the Austin Police Department to return the phones to their rightful owner in an unprecedented manner.

Persons who attended WEEKEND ONE of ACL Fest and who lost a phone or reported their phone as stolen can visit the following website: crowdfind.com/APDPhones

All the phones that were recovered because of this effort were photographed with the wallpaper screen showing, for those devices able to be powered on. The website will assist the owner in claiming the device, obtaining a shipping label then notifying APD detectives to release the phone back to them.

This is the largest item reunification effort the Austin Police Department has undertaken. Investigators are grateful for the support by ACL Fest and crowdfind.com.

Most importantly, the Austin Police Department would like to thank Sgt. Grattan Heyward of the Osceola County Sheriff’s Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Immigration and Customs Enforcement for their efforts in locating the phones and making arrests and deportations related to this case.