According to statistics from the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NAMUS) somewhere around 600,000 people are reported missing in the United States of America each year. Todd Matthew, director of communications for NAMUS, clarified that after investigations, false reports, or the recovery of both living or deceased missing persons, there are still roughly 2,000 unresolved missing person cases a year. Many of these missing person cases, around 100,000, are of elderly individuals. As Todd said, “The rising statistics show that dementia’s on the rise, and people do tend to wander off and usually, they’re found very quickly.” When it comes to locating a missing person, time is of the essence. But with cases of missing elderly people, who may already have physical and mental degeneration, the need to find them quickly is even more important.

On July 16, 2014, police in Fitchburg, WI posted an alert for a missing man, asking anyone with information to contact them. At 82 years old and suffering from dementia, Guillermo B. DeVenecia had wandered away from his home. After three days of searching for him with a helicopter, dogs, and hundreds of volunteers, Guillermo still hadn’t been found. This is when David Lesh decided to step in to help the search effort. David is a former pro- skier and the founder of Virtika Outerwear, a ski and snowboard apparel company. He bought a drone to film and photograph himself and his friends when they were out on the slopes. He contacted the Fitchburg Police to see if they would want to use his drone to help search for Guillermo, thinking that what they would be looking for were the remains of the elderly man to be returned to his family. David’s girlfriend Katie Gorman, who joined him said, “I thought what would happen would be we’d be able to give them the peace of mind to cross off some more areas quickly.”

The police sent David with his drone and 3 back up batteries, to a bean field that had yet to be searched. To search the 200 acre field would have taken volunteers hours to finish. Within 20 minutes of sending his drone 200ft above the field, David spotted something in the final corner of the search area. “As we were making the last turn to fly it, we noticed a man out in the field sort of stumbling, looking a little disoriented,” David said. “We weren’t really sure what we would find or what kind of shape he would be in if we did find him… I don’t think any of us expected to find him.” But find him they did, and in remarkable condition considering the circumstance. David and Katie called in the authorities and quickly rushed Guillermo, who goes by Gill, to the hospital. On the way there, David said that Gill was in good spirits, joking around with them. Gill hadn’t even realized he had been missing for 3 days, saying he was just going for a short walk and didn’t understand why people were worried and looking for him. After a medical exam, Gill was released to his family with just a mild case of dehydration.

This was not the first time a drone had been used in the search of a missing person. However, at the time drones being used in this manner were rare as the FAA still had many restrictions on how drones were to be used. Now police and emergency crews throughout the nation rely on drones for everyday missions, especially in search and rescue missions. In 2015, the sheriff’s office of Collier County, FL first introduced their new drone unit. The drones all weigh less than 5lbs, are equipped with an HD camera, and are flown by specially FAA licensed officers. Sheriff Kevin Rambosk of the CCSO (Collier County Sheriff’s Office) said, “The use of UAVs will enhance the sheriff’s office’s ability to effectively serve our citizens and is an opportunity for us to use technology as a tool to keep the community and deputies safe.” Today the unit consists of 6 drones, and as stated by the unit’s leader, Lt. Scott Barnett, “Our drones have on several occasions offered unobtrusive surveillance of barricaded individuals, offering the SWAT team real-time data without endangering officers. We have used the drone for bomb threats on one occasion at a local high school.”

In April of 2019, the CCSO was contacted after an elderly man failed to return home. The sheriff’s office immediately took action, dispatching 6 of their drones to find the missing person as fast as possible. The CCSO released a statement on April 14th that said, “A missing elderly man was found in a wooded area in Golden Gate on Tuesday after Collier County Sheriff’s Office deputies used drones to track his whereabouts. The 77-year-old man, who has health and mental challenges, became lost for more than two hours after he wandered from his residence in the area of Santa Barbara Boulevard and Golden Gate Parkway.” The release goes on to state, “At 5:27 p.m. Drone Pilot Cpl. Harley Terrill spotted the man through a canopy of trees walking between a house and garage of a residence. Deputies immediately responded to the man’s location where he was recovered safely. Paramedics were called to the scene to check his medical condition. After medical attention was rendered, the man was returned safe to his home.”

While many police departments have successfully located missing persons with the assistance of a drone, this was a first for CCSO. For CCSO, the rapid recovery of this citizen of their community further strengthened their desire to continue advancing their drone unit, and encourage other departments to adopt programs of their own. Adam Linsberg, the head of communications DJI North American operations, quickly took to Twitter to congratulate CCSO on this occasion. In his post he stated, “Congratulations to the Collier County, Florida Sheriff’s office on your very first drone rescue! By @DJIGlobal’s count, this is at least the 228th person around the world to be rescued by a drone.” Todd Matthew had said that NAMUS has seen a decline in unsolved missing persons reports over the last few years. Part of the reason behind this decline is the fact that we now have better communication and search technology, like drones, to assist in the closing of these cases.