First responders used a thermal imaging drone to find a missing hunter off Double Springs Road outside Demorest Tuesday night.
Habersham County E-911 Dispatch received a call at 7:54 p.m. reporting that a man in his 60s who was hunting in the area was missing. His friend reported he had not seen him in about 90 minutes, and he was presumed missing and without a cell phone.
“[He] got lost while trying to track a deer,” says Habersham County Sheriff’s Sgt. Daniel Seeley. “We responded out here along with Habersham County EMS and Fire Department. They started conducting a grid search of the woods.”
The Demorest Fire Department assisted in the search.
“The fire department arrived on scene with the drone that had FLIR and located the man just by a pond,” Seeley says. “Our units were able to locate the male and bring him back up here. He was evaluated by EMS and cleared and is back with his family at this time – no injuries or anything like that.”
LISTEN: Habersham County Sheriff’s Sergeant Daniel Seeley
The man had a flashlight, and although dim, it was picked up by the drone’s FLIR system, which provided a direction for ground searchers to be able to reach him.
“It was probably about an hour-long search,” says Seeley. “Once we got the drone in the air, it didn’t really take but about 20 minutes to locate him.”
Georgia State Patrol Aviation was preparing to assist in the search when the drone located the individual, officials say.
