Facebook Helps Nab Real-World Thief

Anyone questioning the utility of Facebook should talk to Carla Pillo Mote. The Philadelphia advertising exec used the social networking site to identify and locate the man who drunkenly absconded with her company computer, wallet, and tax forms well before the police could make a move, reports Mediabistro's Agency Spy blog. Of course, she and the sticky-fingered miscreant are now Facebook friends.

When Mote realized her computer bag was missing from a bar, she immediately suspected the drunken man who had been sitting next to her. She got his name from the bartender and posted some info to Facebook. A coworker found a photo of the man, and Mote ID'd him. A little Googling later, as she put it in a Facebook update, "he pees himself and we leave with my wallet and computer." (More Facebook stories.)