She actually answered this in one of the comment threads on the article: when accessing the phone it will prompt you to enter the password for the Apple ID which happened to be her email address which happens to be able to receive iMessages. https://www.openweb.com/share/2hQferBhnDlJgGo4oE9Nv6wGjAX
She's wrong - the activation prompt ***'s out most of the email address. She likely had an emergency contact or 'lost mode' message on the device. The latter would still be present if remote wiped.
