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Harrisburg deputies use drone to find missing 12-year-old autistic child within an hour
Summary
Lieutenant Helms described a multi-agency response in which deputies and a county drone located a missing 12-year-old autistic child about an hour after the run; the child was wet and cold but unharmed and reunited with family.
Harrisburg — Law-enforcement officials credited rapid multi-agency response and drone technology for locating a missing 12-year-old autistic child within about an hour in January.
Lieutenant Helms told the council deputies and county partners deployed quickly after the child's family reported him missing. A Harrisburg deputy, who is a trained drone pilot, used thermal imagery from a drone to identify a heat signature in a wooded area; the pilot then guided a deputy to the child's location. The child was located, checked by EMS and returned to his family.
"We were able to locate him within about an hour," Helms said. "The drone...that's actually him." Helms added that reduced foliage at that time of year improved thermal detection.
The department said the incident underscores the value of community reporting, reverse 911 alerts and regional partnerships; council members asked staff to present year-over-year trends for crimes and calls in a future report.
What happens next: the department will consider quarterly and year-over-year graphics in future reports and continue to deploy drone capabilities as part of search-and-rescue responses.
