Delta police are crediting a drone with infrared capabilities in helping find a person with dementia.
The person had walked away from Delta Hospital around 10:20 p.m. on July 29.
Police said officers responded to a potential sighting of the missing person at Dugald Morrison Park but were not able to find them.
The officers then used a drone equipped with an infrared (IR) camera and spotlight.
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“The drone allows us to get up very quickly, and then get a lens on an open area, or an area rapidly, and from there we can narrow our search down, or we can go out and find them in a specific area,” Sgt. Jim Ingram with Delta police said Wednesday.
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After there was no sighting in the immediate area, police then used the drone to search the nearby easement and farm fields.
Police were able to pick up a heat signature on the drone and using the spotlight and zoom cameras were able to precisely pinpoint the missing person’s location in a brush area approximately 100 meters south of the 4300 block of 57th Street.
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“This one where the person was in medical distress, that search would have been extremely difficult on foot, this in this instance was a game-changer,” Ingram said.
Delta police said their drones are used for many other investigations, but the drone with infrared technology is especially valuable in potential life-or-death searches.
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