Mandalyn Martini, a high school math teacher from Layton, Utah, recently shared her story of data loss and recovery. After storing 15 years of priceless family photos and important documents on an external hard drive, she faced a devastating moment when the device stopped working, leaving her unable to access memories including her daughters’ baby pictures.
DriveSavers Recovers Critical Data in Custody Case
There can be a lot more at stake than pictures, music and funny text messages when your smartphone stops working. Sometimes, it’s serious family matters that hang in the balance. Such was the case with Amy, a single mom who sent DriveSavers a severely damaged iPhone that held data to be used as part of a child custody case.
The device was in bad shape. The PCB (printed circuit board) was severely bent and cracked. Several ICs (integrated circuits) were broken or shattered.
Amy turned to the local Apple store for help. After an unsuccessful attempt by the store personnel, she was referred to DriveSavers.
This may have looked like a lost cause to anyone else, but not DriveSavers.
Onboard that phone were thousands of text messages and photographs that Amy needed as evidence in a custody case involving her three-year-old daughter. Those files, she said, support her claims that she (and not the girl’s father) should be their daughter’s primary caregiver.
What she wanted most were several years worth of text messages sent and received from the father’s phone, the girlfriend’s phone and group texts she exchanged with both of them.
“I wouldn’t have had anything, any proof of anything, without this recovery,” Amy said.
The recovery was picture perfect, despite the extensive damage to the smartphone.
“You got everything, every single text message, all the way back to June 2015,” Amy said. “Honestly, I haven’t even looked at all the pictures yet, since you were able to get so many back.”
The case was due to go to court in April, but the date has been pushed back until later in the year to review the new evidence.
“I am over the moon,” Amy said. “You let me win my daughter back.”