California’s Fremont Police department recently used a UAS to locate a missing teen.

After being reported missing, the teen’s location was narrowed down with help from the juvenile’s friends. Shortly afterwards, a Fremont Police UAS operator launched a UAS while other officers began searching railroad tracks on foot.

After being guided to the location, the UAS—equipped with a FLIR camera—located a heat spot. Information was being shared to the officers on foot, while the missing juvenile’s friends, also on foot, approached their friend who was hiding in bushes.

The UAS operator saw this happening and continued to relay the information over radio. The friends were aware that the UAS was airborne and used their cell phone flashlights to signal the operator. A spotlight on the UAS helped guide officers to their location and was used to provide light while officers communicated with the teens. 

The missing teen was taken to paramedics who were standing nearby. 

“We have been training and expanding our program to be prepared for this exact scenario. This technology allowed us to expedite a search, which normally could have taken several hours and a lot of resources,” explains Lt. Matt Snelson, the Department’s UAV Program Administrator.

“To be able to locate a young man who needed help and get him to the resources he needed, is a big success for our UAV Team and our community.”