Charlene Adams, Daily Mail, June 17, 2015

An 18-year-old who was tracking his lost smartphone was murdered after the app led him to a parking lot where he was shot dead.

Jeremy Cook, of Brampton, Ontario, left his smartphone in a taxi and traced its whereabouts on Sunday, using a mobile phone-finding application, to a parking lot where he and his sister approached three men in a car, CBC NEWS reports.

The men tried to drive away and, desperate to retrieve his phone, Cook grabbed on to the driver’s side door and held on as the men sped away, CTV reports.

Minutes later, he was shot multiple times.

London police found his body behind a local strip mall and the assailants’ car, a Mazda sedan, was found crashed and abandoned nearby–the phone was found near the vehicle, CBC reports.

London Police Const. Ken Steeves told CBC that the incident was extreme, noting that Cook’s case is the first where police are dealing with extreme violence stemming from the loss of a phone.

‘No one ever would have predicted or even thought that a loss of life would have resulted from a loss of a phone,’ Steeves said.

London police are now searching for three black males believed to be between 18 and 21 years old, Global News reports.

Police say one of the men is wearing a white shirt with a black design and another is believed to have short hair and to be wearing a black jacket or shirt and a hat.

The third suspect is believed to have a slim build and to be wearing a blue shirt and a black hat.

Cook reportedly had no previous involvement with the men and had not been in trouble with police before, CTV reports.

Those who knew the 18-year-old told CTV that he recently graduated from a high school in Brampton and moved to London, Ont. to pursue a career in carpentry.

He had reportedly been running a carpentry business and was in London for an internship.

After the incident, police are urging the public to be careful when using tracking apps to find lost phones, especially when using them to retrieve the phone by themselves, FOX reports.

‘The app itself is a great tool to have, Steeves told CBC, ‘but if you suspect there’s any potential for violence at all, we certainly encourage people to contact police.’