iPhone returned to owner one year after it fell into lake

Taiwan’s worst drought in over 50 years has been a boon for one lucky tourist who was able to recover a fully functional iPhone that he accidentally dropped while paddleboarding into Sun Moon Lake almost exactly one year ago.

The phone’s owner, a man with the surname Chen, posted in the Bao Fei 1 Commune group on Facebook that he dropped his iPhone 11 Pro Max into Sun Moon Lake while he was paddleboarding on March 15, 2020.

Chen said the phone was in a waterproof case that he was wearing around his neck when the chain came loose and it plunged into the water.

The man said he was contacted last weekend by locals who said the phone was found when a drought caused the lake’s waters to recede further than they have for over 50 years.

Chen said the waterproof case functioned properly and the phone still functions perfectly.

A Canadian teenager was recently reunited with his iPhone under similar circumstances eight months after he lost it while white-water rafting.

Hunter Hoffman said his phone fell into the water while he was rafting on the Coquitlam River in July 2020. The iPhone was returned to him eight months later when Patti Bacchus found it washed up on the beach in front of her Mayne Island home.