Dealership Employee Monitors Facebook, Finds Stolen Infiniti

After a vehicle was stolen from a dealership it wasn’t the police, but the dealership who solved the crime … by stalking someone on Facebook.

A 2008 Infiniti G series coupe was stolen from a dealership in July and has recently been found, thanks to a diligent employee. According to Fox San Antonio, authorities told the employees of On the Move that the chances of getting this vehicle back would be slim. With little hope that they would get their vehicle back, the dealership marketing manager employed a modern method of detective work: she stalked a former customer on Facebook. The organization sent out a newsletter with a featured vehicle on July 1 of this year. The Infiniti was stolen July 2.

After the vehicle was stolen and authorizes said it was going to be hard to find, On The Move marketing manager CJ Steen sprung into action. She remembered a man who test-drove the vehicle right before the theft, so she looked him up on Facebook. They had 13 mutual friends, including her husband. Steen kept a watchful eye on the suspect on social media, and sure enough, he goofed up and put photos of the Infiniti online. Steen had solved the case. She told Fox San Antonio, “It’s definitely a cool tool, I’m a marketing director so I use it all the time to promote my products, but to use it to solve a crime is pretty special.” The 08 Infiniti coupe is reportedly at an impound lot and will soon arrive back at the dealership, all thanks to Steen’s Facebook investigation.

Certainly dealers use Facebook for a variety of reasons – what do you think of dealers using it to solve thefts? Not everyone will have Facebook friends in common with car thieves making Facebook detective work harder, however, do you see social media as a resource that could be used more to help solve vehicle crimes in the future?