A little 3-year-old wandered into a cornfield behind his house, determined to catch a kitty he had seen run between the stalks.
For anyone who’s enjoyed a late summer/early autumn corn maze, they’ll know it’s an easy micro-environment to get lost in. And sure enough, the boy was in over his head within moments.
Deputies responded to calls from the child’s parents in the town of Alto, in Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin on August 25th. By 7:30 p.m., they still hadn’t found him, but suspected he was somewhere among the 100 acres of ears beside their house.
As the light faded away, all nearby homes and barns had been searched, and the deputies realized they had to comb the cornfield on foot.
But fortunately they had a special electric eye in the sky—a search and rescue drone from the Pont du Lac Police Department Technology Response Group, equipped with a thermal imaging camera.
While officers entered calling out for the boy, the drone quickly spotted a thermal signature amongst the corn stalks at about 9:30. Drone operators radioed the deputies who could be guided to the boy’s position.
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“We’re right here buddy, we’re right here for ya,” first responders said as they closed in on the boy. You’re safe now. You’re alright. We’re going to go back and we’re going to find your mom, okay?”
“He said he’d been chasing a cat into the cornfield,” said Lt. Alex Volm of the Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office. “So, a harmless thing, you know, but it could have turned out really bad had we not had the opportunity to use our tools and collaborate with our law enforcement partners.”
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