Missing child found with drone

FORREST CITY, Ark. (KAIT) - Emergency crews found a missing child Saturday using heat-sensing equipment.

Forrest City Fire Department shared in a media release how they found the missing child.

Just after midnight, they received a call from 911 dispatch requesting assistance from the department’s drone team.

When Forrest City Police Department arrived on the scene, two drones were launched to search for signs of the child.

After scanning multiple agricultural fields, a police captain moved the drones to search around Central Elementary School.

He noticed a heat signature on a moving merry-go-round.

FCFD notified FCPD and kept drones over the signature while the fire department’s battalion chief went to the location.

As the battalion chief arrived on the scene a woman grabbed her stuff and ran.

The battalion chief drove up to the woman and asked her to stop running, then talked to her until officers arrived.

“Without the availability of the drone equipment and its thermal imaging option, we would not have located this missing child,” said FCFD.

Copyright 2022 KAIT. All rights reserved.