A missing 3-year-old boy from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin has been found safe thanks to police using a thermal imaging drone.
According to the Fond du Lac County Sheriff's Office, when they received a call about a boy who had wandered into more than 100 acres of cornfields overnight, they knew they would need to use the device to find the boy. said He noted Friday that the local police department's technology response group also assisted in the operation.
The sheriff's office posted drone footage that shows the drone searching for the boy. A few minutes into the footage, a person can be seen walking through a cornfield. A few minutes later, several rescue workers can be seen heading straight for the boy.
Drone Footage – August 25, 2024
**PRESS RELEASE****Sunday, August 25, 2024 at 8:49 PM** Earlier this week, deputies responded to a call of a missing 3-year-old child who had wandered into a 100+ acre cornfield. Given the nighttime conditions and the large area of the search, deputies immediately assessed the need for a heat-detecting drone. Assisted by the Fond du Lac Police Department's Technical Response Group, within minutes the drone operator was able to direct ground forces to the child. Cases such as this highlight the importance of technology and collaboration between law enforcement agencies in our community. Without the use of a heat-detecting drone, it would likely have taken deputies and other emergency personnel hours to search the entire cornfield, and the outcome may have been different. Below is the full press release and a heat detection video from the drone. On August 25, 2024 at 8:49 PM, the Fond du Lac County Communications Center received a call of a missing 3-year-old child on Marsh View Road in Alto Township. The caller was the child's parent, and the child was believed to have gone into a cornfield behind the home. When police arrived on scene, they learned that the child had last been seen around 7:30 PM and that all barns and buildings on the property had been thoroughly searched. At this point, the Alto Fire Department was requested to send personnel to search the cornfield. The Sheriff's Office also requested a Fond du Lac Police Department drone operator to assist in the search. The Sheriff's Office also had members respond to the scene from a drone. The Alto Fire Department began a systematic search of the over 100 acres of cornfield, and the Fond du Lac Police Department drone operator began scanning the area with a drone equipped with a thermal camera. At approximately 9:30 PM, the drone spotted a hot spot in the middle of the cornfield, which led Fond du Lac County sheriff's and firefighters to the cornfield and guided them to the location of the possibly missing child. At 9:46 PM, the sheriff's office found the child and reported that he was not injured. The child was removed from the cornfield and then driven back to the farm where he was reunited with his parents. The child was located approximately one-half mile from the home when he was discovered. The Fond du Lac Sheriff's Office was assisted by the Fond du Lac Police Drone Team and the Alto Fire Department.
Contributor Fond du Lac County Sheriff's Office Friday, August 30, 2024
Body camera recordings captured the moment the officer and other rescuers were involved. Pressed He makes his way through endless cornfields to reach the child, and along the way he hears the sound of someone comforting the child.
“It's OK! We've got him. We're here. We're here. Go back and find your mom, OK? Go find your parents,” the rescuer told the boy.
The child then tells the man holding him that he found a cat in a field, to which the rescuer responds, “Oh, wow! Isn't it amazing?”
The sheriff's office said the boy was not injured during the incident and had wandered about a half-mile from the home.
“Cases like this highlight the importance of technology and collaboration between law enforcement agencies in our community,” officials noted. “Without the use of a thermal imaging drone, it would likely have taken officers and other emergency personnel hours to search the entire cornfield, and the outcome may have been different.”
Additional Video Footage show How high is the corn where the child was found:
“We'll be right here!”
Fond du Lac County sheriff's deputies and emergency personnel found a missing 3-year-old boy deep inside a more than 100-acre cornfield.
What would normally take hours on the ground was found in about an hour with the help of a drone equipped with a thermal imaging camera. pic.twitter.com/gU0tRYF5Pm
— James Stratton (@StrattonWISN) September 2, 2024
Police Officer said NBC 26 reported that the rescue was completed in less than an hour thanks to the drone, which “allowed us to narrow the search area a little bit and, luckily under the circumstances, we were able to find the young man.”
