{"id":84178,"date":"2026-02-20T16:37:41","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T21:37:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.samsung.com\/us\/?p=84178"},"modified":"2026-02-20T16:39:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T21:39:10","slug":"solving-a-mystery-powering-on-a-samsung-phone-lost-for-a-decade-in-the-arizona-desert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/samsung-newsroom-production.barbariangroup.com\/us\/solving-mystery-powering-samsung-phone-lost-decade-arizona-desert\/","title":{"rendered":"Solving a Mystery: Powering on a Samsung Phone Lost for a Decade in the Arizona Desert"},"content":{"rendered":"

An unexpected discovery in the Arizona desert is capturing attention and highlighting the long-lasting durability of Samsung devices.<\/p>\n

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While exploring near her Prescott, Arizona home, 84-year-old Katie Elkin came across a Samsung flip phone \u2013 a 2012 Samsung Gusto 2 \u2013 lying in the desert landscape.<\/p>\n

Rather than discarding it, Elkin brought the phone home. When she connected it to power, the phone began charging and ultimately powered on.<\/p>\n

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What followed was Elkin\u2019s remarkable journey to reunite the device that had been missing for over a decade with its original owner, who lost the phone in the area in 2015. The two connected over the holidays, both surprised and delighted that the device had endured years of exposure to Arizona\u2019s fluctuating temperatures, seasonal storms and desert conditions.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

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Mobile technology plays a deeply personal role in people\u2019s lives, preserving memories and strengthening connections with the people who matter most. This story, originally reported on by CNET, is a powerful reminder of the thoughtful design, durability and resilience engineered into all Samsung devices.<\/p>\n

To read the full story of Katie Elkin\u2019s discovery and the remarkable journey it set off, visit CNET here: https:\/\/www.cnet.com\/tech\/mobile\/samsung-phone-lost-in-desert-10-years-lives-again\/<\/a><\/p>\n

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An unexpected discovery in the Arizona desert is capturing attention and highlighting the long-lasting durability of Samsung devices. While exploring near her Prescott, Arizona home, 84-year-old Katie Elkin came across a Samsung flip phone \u2013 a 2012 Samsung Gusto 2 \u2013 lying in the desert landscape. Rather than discarding it, Elkin brought the phone home. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29720,29718],"tags":[25940,40,27433,126],"blue-badge":[],"class_list":["post-84178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-product-mobile","category-product","tag-galaxy","tag-mobile","tag-mobile-connectivity","tag-smartphone"],"acf":{"turn_off_retargeting":false},"fimg_mobile_url":"https:\/\/img.us.news.samsung.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/20163653\/Article-Card-34.png","fimg_url":"https:\/\/img.us.news.samsung.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/20163653\/Article-Card-34-424x283.png","primary_category":{"term_id":29720,"name":"Mobile","slug":"product-mobile","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":29720,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":29718,"count":984,"filter":"raw","term_link":"https:\/\/samsung-newsroom-production.barbariangroup.com\/us\/category\/product\/product-mobile\/","term_path":"product\/product-mobile"},"badge":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/samsung-newsroom-production.barbariangroup.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/samsung-newsroom-production.barbariangroup.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/samsung-newsroom-production.barbariangroup.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samsung-newsroom-production.barbariangroup.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/91"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samsung-newsroom-production.barbariangroup.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84178"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/samsung-newsroom-production.barbariangroup.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84178\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84196,"href":"https:\/\/samsung-newsroom-production.barbariangroup.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84178\/revisions\/84196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/samsung-newsroom-production.barbariangroup.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samsung-newsroom-production.barbariangroup.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samsung-newsroom-production.barbariangroup.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84178"},{"taxonomy":"blue-badge","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samsung-newsroom-production.barbariangroup.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blue-badge?post=84178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}