HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. – A 5-year-old girl with autism from Hillsborough County was found safe after she wandered into a wooded area near her home after deputies used thermal imaging technology.
The thermal imaging cameras detected the girl’s body heat as she waded through ankle-deep water. She was found in under an hour.
Take a look at the video of the rescue.
Deputies can be seen using compassion to lure the girl out of the swampy area to reunite her with her family.
News4JAX Crime and Safety Analyst Tom Hackney watched the video and said the rescue was handled perfectly.
“So many of them don’t result in something like that. And positive with the child being recovered safely. So it brought a smile to my face to see it,” Hackney said.
Hackney said the thermal imaging technology takes the human error out.
“It is a piece of equipment that actually will lock on to that heat signature,” Hackney said “So no matter where that helicopter is moving, trying to orbit a certain area to look for the missing child, once it picks up on that heat signature and identifies it, it doesn’t lose it. So the units on the ground are able to move in like you saw.”
It’s an innovation that helps make room for more happy endings.
This same technology can be used to find suspects on the run. Hackney said it was used to locate Patrick McDowell in 2021, the man who pleaded guilty to killing a Nassau County deputy during a traffic stop.