In an unusual tale of persistence and technology, British content creator Miles Routledge, known online as Lord Miles, managed to recover his lost AirPods a year after they went missing during a hotel stay in Dubai. The device was eventually traced to Jhelum in Pakistan, leading him on an unexpected international journey to reclaim it.
The 24-year-old YouTuber revealed that his AirPods Pro disappeared while he was waiting for a visa in Dubai. “They vanished after housekeeping came to clean my hotel room,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter). However, the saga didn’t end there.
Routledge had enabled Apple’s “Find My” feature on the device, which allowed him to track its location long after it went missing.
To his surprise, the AirPods appeared to be active in Jhelum, a city in Pakistan’s Punjab province.
The signal pinged from near a local eatery named “2nd Wife Restaurant”, a detail that quickly gained attention online.
Determined to retrieve the gadget, Routledge contacted local police in Jhelum, who launched an investigation after his social media posts went viral. The police narrowed down their search to residents who had recently returned from Dubai.
They eventually located a local man in possession of the AirPods. According to officials, the man claimed he had purchased the item in Dubai from an Indian national, unaware it was stolen. Authorities have reportedly taken the seller into custody on charges of dealing in stolen goods.
Routledge flew to Pakistan to collect the recovered AirPods and thanked the Jhelum Police for their swift action. In a video update, he shared his experience of being greeted like a celebrity. “I was welcomed by the police chief and over 20 journalists. This has somehow become a national news story — strangers on the street recognise me and ask about my AirPods,” he wrote.
The UK YouTuber was also treated to lunch at the same restaurant that played an unexpected role in his AirPods’ journey. The story has captured widespread interest in Pakistan and abroad, blending tech, travel, and a touch of humour in a truly one-of-a-kind recovery mission.