An Apple employee has once again lost an unreleased iPhone in a bar, CNET reported Wednesday.

The prototype iPhone5 went missing in late July at Cava 22, a bar in San Francisco's Mission district. The device is rumoured to have been sold on Craigslist for $200.

Since the device went missing, Apple has reportedly been "scrambling" to retrieve it, eventually managing to electronically trace it to a two-floor house in San Francisco's Bernal Heights neighborhood. CNET reported that the 22-year-old resident of the house admitted being at the restaurant the night the prototype went missing, but denied having any knowledge of the matter. The police also found nothing in the house, according to the CNET report.

San Francisco police said that Apple did not file a police report regarding the missing iPhone. Craigslist has so far not responded to requests for comment.

In a strikingly similar case last year, an Apple engineer lost an iPhone 4 prototype, also in a bar. The device was bought by technology website Gizmodo for $5,000.