AirTags Lead Police to Retired Professor’s Home After Four Campaign Signs Vanish
A campaign-sign mystery in Columbus, Georgia, took an unexpected turn when hidden Apple AirTags led a candidate and police to the home of a retired Columbus State University educator and his wife.
Stephen Acorn is running as an independent write-in candidate against longtime Democrat incumbent Debbie Buckner in Georgia House District 137. Acorn said his campaign signs kept disappearing near Matthews Elementary School and County Line Road.
So he changed tactics. Acorn cut open replacement signs, slipped AirTags inside, and waited to see where they went.
“I feel like I outsmarted the perpetrator,” Acorn told NowGeorgia.com, which first reported the incident.
Within 24 hours, Acorn received an alert showing that two of the signs were moving. The tracking information eventually pointed toward the residence of Richard Spencer Garrard and his wife, Rev. Dr. Cindy Cox Garrard.
Richard Garrard previously worked as a lecturer in middle-grades education at Columbus State University, according to the school’s faculty catalog. University archives also include an oral-history interview about his time as a student and faculty member.
Police went to the couple’s home, where Garrard reportedly answered the door. Acorn said the responding officer told him police knew the missing signs were at the residence. The signs needed to be returned, Acorn said, or he could press charges.
Four Acorn campaign signs were reportedly recovered from the garbage at the residence and returned to the candidate.
That footage later resurfaced after Libs of TikTok shared the incident on X.
Meet Spencer Garrard, a retired professor at Columbus State University and his wife, a woke reverend.
Police were called after stolen campaign signs for Georgia House candidate Stephen Acorn traced back to their home via airtag.
Watch the full police bodycam footage of them… pic.twitter.com/JPaaRWD2Vi
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) September 7, 2026
Cindy Garrard later appeared to accept responsibility for removing the signs while denying that her husband took part. She also said she never removed a sign from private property.
In a statement to NowGeorgia, Garrard said she believed the signs had been placed illegally along a public right-of-way. She said that was why she removed them and confirmed the signs were later returned.
The political connection added another layer to the dispute. Acorn shared election records showing that Rev. Dr. Cindy Cox Garrard made a financial contribution to Debbie Buckner’s campaign.
Acorn said he gave the couple several hours to apologize and promised to keep their identities private. When he received no response, he posted a photo of the couple on Facebook with the caption “sign snatchers.”
Garrard responded beneath the post: “They” is me, not my husband. I never removed a sign from private property.
Asked whether he planned to pursue criminal charges, Acorn responded “God shows us grace every single day and he commands us to do the same. It’s something I’m going to pray about.”
Acorn did submit an open-records request for the responding officer’s body-camera video. Under Georgia law, stealing campaign signs can carry a penalty of up to 12 months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000.