Drones can be incredibly effective at finding missing persons since they can scan a large area quickly. But did you know there are several variables that can impact a drone’s ability during a search and rescue (SAR) mission?
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There is no question that search and rescue drones are incredibly effective at finding missing persons. But it’s not often that you have similar events unfolding 600 miles apart on consecutive nights. But this is exactly what happened in Ohio and North Carolina this week. And both times, disaster was averted with the help of drones.
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When Dan Osterhout took his drone out for a spin this week, he didn’t know he would end up helping a missing person’s family find some closure. But the upside-down car submerged in a pond that his drone spotted could very well unravel the mystery of what happened to a Florida man 12 years ago.
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During the early morning hours on Saturday, a 16-year-old girl called the 999 Emergency Services to report that she had been raped and was somewhere in the Boston Lincolnshire (UK) area with her attacker. Even though the girl was not able to report her exact location she was quickly found after she had described a leveled factory site and the local authorities deployed a police drone with a thermal imaging camera.
On Friday afternoon an 86-year-old hunter from Hohestadt (Würzburg) in Germany goes back into the forest to check on a feeding place. He does not come back.
At around 8 pm that evening his wife gets worried and alerts the local fire department, which in turn informs the police. Soon after the hunter’s car is found but no sign of the man himself. More rescue workers are asked to help and before long ten search dogs, 30 firefighters, several policemen, and rescue workers of the Bavarian Red Cross and the Johanniter-Unfallhilfe are all looking for the missing hunter.
With all the drone incidents that are reported, it is easy to forget that drones can also be used in a very positive or even life-saving way. Take this story for instance where an 82-year old lady was reported missing in Randolph County, North Carolina. Somehow she ended up in a cornfield and it is very easy to get lost in one of those. Randolph County NC Sheriffs Office brought in a drone to assist in the search. The drone provided a straight-down perspective and as you can see in the video below, that makes it much easier to spot people. It took less than 25 minutes to locate her and bring her safely back to her family.