A Bay area teen has been reunited with her cell phone that she lost at the Warped Tour in St. Petersburg that contained irreplaceable memories of her dad who recently passed away.
"I’m so happy to have my memories and my pictures," said Jaylin Banks, 18. "My Dad was the one who helped me pick this phone case."
Turns out it was that specific case and a story that Bay News 9 aired about the lost cell phone that led to its return.
"Happened to see the story on Bay News 9," said Robert Goins, 45. "As soon I seen the selfie photo of the case, I knew instantly that this was the phone."
Goins said he took his 14-year-old daughter to the Warped Tour at Vinoy Park in St. Petersburg last Friday and found the iPhone 6 near the marina.
"When it started raining we were leaving the event and found the cell phone on the ground in front of the Vinoy hotel," he said. "I asked around for people. The event was over so there was no staff or anything to give it to, to turn it into anywhere and the storm was crazy at that point."
Jaylin said she lost her cell phone shortly after arriving at the concert in a Porta Potty. The teen said she went back to that Porta Potty within five minutes and it was gone. Jaylin suspects someone else found the phone and dropped it outside the venue where Goins picked it up.
"Where I lost it and where he found it was nowhere near each other," she said.
Goins said he called the St. Petersburg Police Department on Thursday after seeing Jaylin's story on Bay News 9. A detective put him in touch with the Banks family, who live in New Port Richey, and they agreed to meet at the Brandon Mall on Friday to reunite Jaylin with her phone.
"It was like karma. It was fate," Goins said. "For me to find it and for the story of her father and stuff, it kind of touched me. ‘Cause... I took my daughter also on that day."
"I’m just grateful to Robert and him being in the right place at the right time," said Jaylin's mom, Muriel Banks, 44. "To me, that’s divine.”
Muriel said her daughter lost her dad and then lost her cell phone with all his memories and she was worried it was too much for the teen to handle.
"I got my daughter back," she said. "Now I can move on to my funeral (arrangements) and other things that’s going on in my life."
Muriel said her husband, Dante Banks, 43, a 20-year Army Veteran, will be laid to rest on July 17, at the Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell. The mom said finding the iPhone helps ease the grief a little bit and thanked Bay News 9 for telling her daughter's story.
"I’m grateful for you for doing that for my family," she said. "I’m so grateful for Bay News 9. So, thank you."
"I’m just so grateful that you guys decided that you wanted to help us and see if it would make a difference," Jaylin said.
The teen said she has learned from this mistake and will enable an app that allows her to track the cell phone if it gets lost again. Jaylin also said she'll routinely back up her phone.
Goins declined any reward money and said he just wanted to make sure Jaylin got her phone back.