Agency’s drones help police locate missing teenager

Girl found unharmed on playground

The new drones at the Forrest City Fire Department have come in handy once again, this time helping police locate a missing teenager.

The FCFD responded to a missing juvenile call on Dawson Road late Friday after a 14-yearold girl ran away from her home, according to officials.

FCFD Battalion Chief Zakk Jumper said the department received a call about midnight from the county’s 911 Center regarding the missing juvenile.

"We received the call about 11:49 p.m., on Friday, asking if we could launch our drones because there was a juvenile missing on Dawson Road," said Jumper. "We went out to Fire Station Two because she had left her residence somewhere near that location and we believed she may have been in one of the cornfields that are situated around that area."

Jumper said that after locating the teen, he was able to calm her down and keep her with him until police officers could arrive to return her safely to her residence.

"After arriving at Station Two, we launched our drones and scanned the nearby fields," said Jumper. "We could not locate her in the fields and that is when Captain Troy Thweatt decided to scan the school grounds at Central Elementary. While scanning the playground, through the infrared of the drone, we saw the outline of a person on the merry-go-round. At that time, the police had another call going on, so I drove over to check the area. When I arrived, the girl gathered her things and began to run. I was able to get her to stop and talk to her until law enforcement arrived and we got her home safely."

According to Jumper, if the department had been using the same techniques as in the past, rather than the new drone technology, the search could have taken hours.

"Because of it being such a dark area and how the fields are grown up in that area, it was pretty much impossible to find her in a reasonable amount of time without the drone," said Jumper. "The drone made it so much faster and easier. We weren't just out there blindly looking through the woods and fields in the dark. We were able to throw those up and scan large areas of land in a matter of 30 minutes. If we were out there trying to search like we did in the

(Continued from Page 1) past, it would have taken hours upon hours upon hours. With the drones, we found her within an hour."

Jumper said when the police department gets a missing persons call, they immediately call the fire department to launch the drones and begin a search.

"I couldn't tell you how many acres we were able to cover quickly by using these drones," said Jumper. "With the thermal imaging at night, we are able to clearly see the outline of people, especially if they are walking or in an upright position. We can clearly make out arms and legs moving or the shape of their head. Here, lately, if the police department gets a call about a missing person, they call us immediately and we send up the drones. Heavy vegetation does make it nearly impossible to find anything under the treetops."

According to Jumper, these drones have proven their ability to locate missing people and bring them home safely.

"We are happy to have access to technology like this," said Jumper. "We have heard people say that all we did was buy toys to play with, but these are pieces of technology that have proven to aid in locating those who are missing or lost and bring them home."