Drone Rescues Missing Elderly Hunter In Shenandoah

LOUDOUN COUNTY, VA — A missing 92-year-old hunter was quickly found safe Sunday in Shenandoah with help from a drone from the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office. It's the first successful use of the department's Small Unmanned Aircraft System (sUAS) since being implemented in September.

LCSO officers were contacted early Sunday morning for help in finding the missing man in a heavily wooded area. Seven members of the aUAS team responded and used thermal imaging through the drone that was launched at 9:30 a.m. Twenty minutes later, the man was visually located by the drone, and officers on the ground found him safe.

The county sheriff's office was the first in Virginia and sixth in the United States to have a drone equipped with a Project Lifesaver antenna. The Project Lifesaver program is an electronic-based locating system for people with medical conditions such as Alzheimer’s, Autism, or other conditions, that have a tendency to wander from home and become lost.

Project Lifesaver clients, says the LCSO,are equipped with a wristband transmitter that emits an automatic locating signal. If the client becomes lost, the specially trained deputies with the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue Team will now use the sUAS, equipped with the Project Lifesaver payload, to help locate the client.

Image via Loudoun County Sheriff's Office