She watched its location using Find My on her laptop. It was last pinging her somewhere just north of Hong Kong (in fact it says: "Montery Plaza, 9 Chong Yip St, Kwun Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China").

I believe “She” here refers to the original owner (the victim). Apple offers a feature to remotely wipe your device if lost, and that was what I understood the owner to have done. I’ve done the same thing for a stolen iPhone.