An 8-year-old boy with autism who went missing in Upper Marlboro has been found safe after a coordinated search effort involving ground teams and a helicopter equipped with a thermal imaging system. The Prince George’s County Police responded to a family’s call late on April 12 when they discovered that their son had wandered away from home, as detailed in an article from WUSA9. Ground units, which included a K9 team, and the department’s Aviation Section quickly mobilized to search the surrounding area thoroughly.
The Prince George's County Police Aviation Section deployed the Guardian helicopter to aid in the search, which eventually detected a heat signature near a large body of water. "We got airborne as quickly as we could and started our search," said Corporal Christopher Elrod of the Department’s Aviation Division in a statement reported by WUSA9. "I checked all the bodies of water that I could, and when I expanded my search of the lake, that’s when I found him." The helicopter’s thermal imaging system was crucial in locating the child whose legs were submerged in water on a night when temperatures were near 40 degrees.
After being guided by the aviation crew, officers on the ground were able to rapidly reach the boy, who was found to be cold and wet but otherwise unharmed. A video shared by local media captured the rescue's precise coordination. "Thankfully, the officers were able to reach the child, who was cold and wet but otherwise unharmed," confirmed the Prince George's County Police Department in a news release featured by DCNewsNow. The boy was then reunited with his family and a waiting ambulance crew.
