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.
“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.
After there was no sighting in the immediate area, police then used the drone to search the nearby easement and farm fields.
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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.
“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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