City of Cortland Police Find Lost Man with Drone
On October 11, the City of Cortland Police received a report of a missing person at Randall Park.
A 73-year-old dementia patient, who was watching a soccer game, left to use the restroom and never returned. Officers searched nearby areas but were unable to locate him.
Patrol Officer Matthew Maniaci was called in to use his drone to aid in the search.
“It was getting darker, it was getting colder,”Maniaci said.
“The drone is super important for situations like these so we can check areas that aren’t too easily accessible by officers.”
- The drone allowed Officer Maniaci to check areas that were not easily accessible, including high elevated areas and wooded zones.
- Maniaci noted that the drone
“cuts down crucial time when finding community members”
.
Thanks to the drone, the missing man was found in a fenced-in area that may not have been checked otherwise.
Author's summary: Police use drone to find missing dementia patient.