Drone helps Missouri sheriff’s deputies find missing 93-year-old woman in dark field
Deputies with the Cass County Sheriff’s Office used a drone Sunday evening to find a missing 93-year-old woman in a dark farm field, the agency reported.
The woman’s husband called authorities about 8:30 p.m. saying his wife had gone for a walk about 5 p.m. and had not returned, according a news release from sheriff’s office.
The sun set about 6:45 p.m. on Sunday.
Deputies responded and searched several acres around her home to the area in the 1700 block of South Reynolds Road, a rural area north of Strasburg. Deputies, however, were unable to find her.
The deputies requested the department’s drone, a DjI Matrice 210 with a FLIR camera. The thermal camera give the drone the ability to see heat signatures.
Within five minutes of launching the drone, deputies found the woman about a quarter mile from her home, according to the sheriff’s office.
Deputies and emergency medical workers responded to her location. She was exhausted and missing a shoe, but was otherwise in good health.
“This is an excellent use of current technology to help our citizens,” Cass County Sheriff Jeff Weber said in the news release. “The ability to deploy a UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) in these types of situations saves time and resources, especially when time is of the essence. Every minute counts.”
The drone was donated in 2019 by the Sheriff’s Office Auxiliary.
This story was originally published October 15, 2020 at 2:08 PM.
