Police-Operated Drone Spots Missing Child In Sagebrush

When you are a police officer, you never quite know what you are going to run into from one day to the next. Perhaps that is why many police officers describe their job as being hours of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror.

Then again, when policemen take up the job, they are there to “protect and serve.” Many policemen live up to that motto every day, including the police in Umptanum.

As shared by the Kittitas County Sheriff on Facebook, when a family called 911 to report their 3-year-old daughter had disappeared into the sagebrush around their home, it was a serious situation. The parents had looked for about 20 minutes but they came back empty-handed.

It isn’t just the sagebrush in the area that was the problem, it was that the brush was in remote location with canyons and many hazards associated with the high country. The deputies at the Kittitas County Sheriff’s office knew they had to act fast.

The Sheriff’s office worked along with the fire and rescue services in the local area. Ground personnel was busy searching through the area while the first responders launched aerial drones to help with the search.

It wasn’t long before they located the toddler in the brush. She was about 300 yards away from the house in a ravine and surrounded by shrubs.

By this point, the toddler had been wandering for about two hours. With the help of the first responders and drone footage, they were able to direct the professionals to the area, and the little girl was saved.

Technology has come a long way and in some cases, it is used for nefarious purposes. In this particular case, however, drone technology really pulled through and allowed one family to be back together again.