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A vuew from above the area searched for a missing child Monday is shown by Habersham County Sheriff’s Office drone cam. HABERSHAM COUNTY/Submitted
Units from the Habersham County Sheriff’s Office and Habersham County Emergency Services responded at 11:40 a.m. Monday to a home off North Mize Road, where a compromised juvenile had wandered away from home.
In addition to fire and EMS personnel, Deputy Sheriff Justin Williams, an FAA-certified drone pilot, responded and began flying the area with the sheriff’s office’s drone.
The juvenile was located with the drone’s camera at the same time ground personnel saw him near a creek on nearby property, a short distance from a pond.
“We have a drone that not only functions well in the daytime, but also has heat detection and is useful at night,” said Sheriff Joey Terrell. “In situations like the one today, valuable time is saved when we’re able to get an earlier start on searching a wider area while additional resources are traveling to the area.”
A Georgia Department of Corrections K-9 unit arrived on scene just as the child was located, and air support from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and Georgia State Patrol were canceled.
The child was not hurt and was returned to his home by a sheriff’s deputy. Units returned to service just before 12:30 p.m.
– Habersham County