The 23-year-old EIT design student said the Find My iPhone app had saved her a lot of heartache and was recommending all smart phone users download an app just in case their phone was stolen.
"I pay $100 a month for [the phone] so as a student I can't afford to replace it that easily."
As Sergeant Glenn Yule of Hawke's Bay Police pointed out, it was not difficult to trace the missing phone thanks to the app which was doing its job.
Ms Lee had been able to bring up a map image on her computer screen showing where the app was transmitting from.
"It was a pretty clear map and showed it was coming from a sleepout at the back of a section in Havelock North," Mr Yule said.
So he went and did a door knock and stunned the occupant by asking if he had found a phone in a certain bar the night before.
The young man said yes, he did have a phone - but claimed it had been given to him by a woman who had been in the bar later.
"I said to him he must have realised it was an expensive phone and obviously belonged to someone so why not hand it in at the bar?"
The man agreed he should have done that, but then said he was just getting up and had been planning to take it into the local police station.
Mr Yule said there was not enough evidence to press any charges.
"But it clearly shows the value of these apps and it's good news for us because it takes up a lot of resources dealing with thefts of expensive phones."
The app had the ability to take police straight to the missing item.
He said the incident showed two things - that people could buy an app to keep track of their expensive phones and secondly that if someone was handed or stole a phone then they could "expect to get a knock on the door by police".