Laura T.* returns to Leipzig with her children after a relaxing stay at the mother and child clinic. But her return home is suddenly overshadowed by a moment of shock: her cargo bike, which she had safely locked up in the courtyard of her apartment block in Plagwitz, has disappeared without a trace. She immediately calls the police and reports the theft to the bike hunters at IT’S MY BIKE.

On 29 November 2024, at 21:50, Laura T.’s report is received by the Bike Hunters. Using the GPS tracker on her bike, they reconstruct her last movements. What they discover is a trail that stretches over months – and leads right through Leipzig.

The first suspicious moment is dated 15 September, 22:34. Someone is tampering with Laura’s bicycle. Minutes later, it starts moving – at a speed of over 50 kilometres per hour. This means that the thief has probably loaded the cargo bike into a vehicle and driven off.

The journey ends about 10 kilometres away, at an allotment garden in Möckern. The bike appears to have been unloaded and hidden behind the gardens.

Two days later, at around 18.30, the bike is on the move again. This time, it heads three kilometres south, into the backyard of a block of flats in Gohlis-Süd. Nothing happens for weeks. It was not until 22 November, at 16:51, that the tracker registered movement again. But this time something unusual happened: the temperature remained constant at 15 degrees Celsius – a clear indication that the bike had probably ended up in a garage or cellar.

Until 6 December, the GPS tracker records only minimal changes in position – until everything suddenly changes at around 12:44. The bike sets off, this time with a clear change of direction: 8 kilometres towards the Leipzig Nord car park. It arrives there at 12:47.

And this is exactly where the Bike Hunters had hoped to find it: they follow the movement data in real time as the bike is moved around and finally loaded onto a lorry parked there. At 13:35, the lorry finally leaves the car park – and with it, the stolen cargo bike.

The bike hunters alert the police. They eventually stop the suspicious lorry on the motorway. When the officers open the back of the truck, they find the stolen cargo bike.

 

*Name changed by the editor

Symbol image: Adobe Stock