Drone helps deputies rescue lost kayaker in dark woods
In a remote wooded area, a man kayaking near a riverbank became lost after nightfall, stranded in dense woods with no light and limited visibility. Deputies launched a Drone as First Responder (DFR) equipped with thermal imaging to help locate him from the air.
The drone operator identified a heat signature deep within the forest, guiding deputies through thick vegetation and uneven terrain. Using the drone’s live video feed, the team navigated directly to the man’s location and safely brought him out of the woods.
What could have been a prolonged overnight search ended swiftly and safely, thanks to real-time aerial intelligence.
- The call for service was basically a, a missing kayaker.
- His wife had dialed 911. His phone had died,
- and she had lost contact.
- He was well past when he needed to be, to be back or at
- least heading home.
- When somebody calls in and lists somebody missing,
- we utilize the, our
- drone resources to try to canvas the area and, uh, hopefully
- locate the, the person that's listed as missing.
- This is an hour, hour and 15 minutes away from the sheriff's
- office, so we have to drive all the way up there.
- We get up there.
- It was almost near impossible to see him.
- And luckily, he was smart enough, you know, he did two things right.
- He builds a fire, and then he stops.
- But luckily, they caught the heat signature from the
- FLIR, the
- fire, and then as zoomed around, were able to see him
- actually walking. Um, and the, the cool thing about that was is
- we were able to take one of our guys, put him on the Florida Fish and
- Wildlife boat, and direct them directly to where he was,
- getting him
- back to safety. [dramatic music]
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