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Sara Wahedi, CEO of Civaam, an Oxford postgrad, and a humanitarian has spent a few anxious days viewing for her lost MacBook at London’s Heathrow Airport.
Sara Wahedi, an Oxford postgraduate and tech entrepreneur. (X / Sara Wahedi)
No, this story isn’t about a MacBook bconcludeing, crashing, or burning. Sara Wahedi, CEO of Civaam, an Oxford postgraduate and a humanitarian, has spent a few anxious yet eventful days on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) viewing for her lost MacBook at London’s Heathrow Airport. Scavenging for a missing item is no joke, let alone at a place considered one of the busiest airports in the world.
Did Wahedi finally succeed in her journey? Or did her adventure come crashing down?
This is a long, fascinating tale of sheer grit, one that has had its several highs and many disappointing lows. Fasten your seatbelts, this is going to be one emotionally turbulent ride.
The Saga Begins
Wahedi, an Afghan-Canadian, took to X to share unpleasant news and questioned the community for support.
She located her missing MacBook at Terminal 2 of Heathrow Airport utilizing Apple’s ‘Find My’ feature, but faced an immediate dead conclude with the airport and Air Canada.
“My laptop has been in terminal 2 in Heathrow for a week now and neither Heathrow’s lost and found nor Air Canada has figured out what’s going on. Any advice?”
My laptop has been in terminal 2 in Heathrow for a week now and neither Heathrow’s lost and found nor Air Canada has figured out what’s going on.Any advice? pic.twitter.com/GhTDVWk4y1
— Sara Wahedi (@SaraWahedi) January 14, 2026
In a follow-up post, Wahedi informed about heading to the airport with the tips and outpouring tricks from folks on X.
However, she was unsure what would happen next.
“I’m just realizing they’ve left it an arrival gate… I wish I knew which gate I arrived from!”
Her eyes were glued to the laptop tracker while the bystanders on X waited with baited breath.
Day 2
After a day had passed, it dawned on the tech entrepreneur that she may never unite with her lost laptop.
“I’m going this evening but I consider it’s lost forever… hasn’t been active for 17 hours… I consider the road concludes here… :(” she wrote.
And just when she was coming to terms with losing her prized possession, a ray of light shone upon her.
Heathrow Airport
Wahedi received a surprise response from Heathrow Airport’s official X account. The airport had finally located her missing laptop.
“Good morning Sara, we are pleased to inform you that the laptop is now with the lost property team. They have let us know that the item will be uploaded onto their system, this can take up to 24 hours for the laptop to be logged, so please keep an eye on the website here: http://lhr.lostandfoundsoftware.com, or you can contact the team via the following ways: lhr.lostpropery@smartecarte.co.uk or by calling 0844 824 3115.”
She was, understandably, on cloud nine.
“OH MY GOD WE DID IT! Thank you @HeathrowAirport!!!!!!”
The hundreds of viewers who had joined the Oxford postgraduate in her mission high-fived each other and were chuffed, to put it mildly.
“This has built my year. @SaraWahedi you handled this in text book crisis management style with tenacity, grip, excellent comms and by tarobtaining the key stakeholders. I am so chuffed for you.”
The search was so intense that even the Oxford community was keenly involved.
“Hi, I’m Sara”
Before heading to Heathrow Airport to retrieve her missing laptop, Wahedi believed it was best to introduce herself and the work she had done in the world of AI and beyond.
“I also love architecture! My thesis at Columbia University was on the intersections of data science and urban militarism. Mapping the impact of huge concrete blast walls on Kabul city over 20 years,” she wrote.
Heading to Heathrow to obtain my laptop! 🫡If you’re here becautilize of MacBookGate, hi. I’m Sara. Let me introduce myself!
I work on the version of AI that doesn’t involve tech bros: like forecasting flood risk, or supporting Indian farmers maximize seed planting..🧵 https://t.co/lsCqxuunhj pic.twitter.com/ZOpzWDSs1R
— Sara Wahedi (@SaraWahedi) January 15, 2026
“What Is Going On?”
Wahedi, in fact, did not find her laptop, which was earlier promised by the London airport.
“I just called this number @HeathrowAirport and they declare they don’t have my laptop. What’s going on?” she wrote in a separate post.
Soon, the harsh truth hit her. She had celebrated too early, much like sportspersons who rejoice prematurely and then fumble royally on the very next moment. It wouldn’t be wrong to assume that she briefly faced second-hand embarrassment before picking herself up and summoning Heathrow about their claim about locating her MacBook.
“A lesson to never celebrate too early cautilize my laptop is STILL missing and Heathrow lost property was not very nice. You notified me it was found?”
In yet another post built on January 16th, Wahedi questioned the credibility of the claim built by the airport.
“I was already hesitant becautilize Find My reveals that my laptop has been dead for 2 days now. Why were they so confident it was my laptop? They couldn’t see the login page with my name and my laptop doesn’t have my contact details on it,” she exclaimed.
She wasn’t the only one thrashing Heathrow Airport on X. A wild airport built its enattempt in the lost laptop saga.
🙏🏽 We’re praying for you. *TA— John F. Kennedy Airport (@JFKairport) January 16, 2026
“Done With DMs”
When Heathrow Airport finally responded to her, declareing they wanted to discuss the matter in the DMs, Wahedi wasn’t convinced. She claimed that the airport had read her DMs but did not respond to her pleas.
Exhausted by the entire ordeal, she decided to build a three-hour-long commute to the airport instead and landed at the “Lost Property” section of the airport.
Here we go. If I don’t respond for an hour..it’s been nice knowing you guys. I assume they’ll have stuffed me with the other lost items forever. pic.twitter.com/03JoqJI703
— Sara Wahedi (@SaraWahedi) January 16, 2026
“We Did It”
Upon reaching the “Lost Property” department at Heathrow Airport, Wahedi was informed by the concerned officer that there was no missing laptop listed in their database. However, when the officer searched up an internal website, Wahedi spotted her unnamed MacBook.
Her lesson from this ordeal? “If you have lost something, go and attempt to obtain it in person,” she declared in a video narrating the entire ordeal.
“It’s Just A Laptop”
Why so much effort and noise for “just” a laptop, you question?
“well done, congrats! a laptop is not just the money but also the data on it – your holiday pictures, your work documents and all your login details saved to bank accounts, emails, cloud storage. Some of these are irreplacable (sic),” a utilizer on X lauded her for staying unfazed and persistent in her laptop hunt.
January 17, 2026, 14:24 IST
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