Video:  View on the Spokane County Sheriff’s YouTube Channel or Facebook page.   

Technology Used to Locate Extremely Cold Missing Vulnerable Adult, West of Iller Creek Conservation Area

Spokane County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to an alarm at a residence west of the Iller Creek Conservation Area.  While checking the residence, they determined the alarm was false but learned a vulnerable adult male was missing from the home.  Deputies began a search, and an Unmanned Aerial System (UAS), commonly called a drone, was deployed.  The UAS operator found the male approximately an hour later, several hundred yards from his home.  He was extremely cold and confused but safe.

On October 26, 2024, at approximately 4:00 am, Spokane County Sheriff’s Deputies arrived at a residence on E. Custer Lane, west of the Iller Creek Conservation Area, regarding a residential alarm.  

Deputies learned the alarm was false, but a possible vulnerable adult was missing from the residence.  Additional Deputies, including a UAS operator, responded to the location to help search the rural area for the male, who was believed not to be dressed appropriately for the cold weather.   

At approximately 5:35 am, the Deputy operating the UAS located a heat signature in some bushes at a nearby residence, several hundred feet away.  He advised other Deputies of the possible location and guided them to the heat signature.  

Deputies arrived and located the missing vulnerable adult male in some bushes.  He was extremely cold and confused but appeared to be uninjured.

He received medical attention at the scene before being transported to the hospital as a precaution and additional care.    

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This Spokane County Sheriff Office news article "VIDEO: Technology Used to Locate Extremely Cold Missing Vulnerable Adult" was originally found on https://www.spokanecounty.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?CID=7