"It couldn't have been more than 2 minutes I noticed he wasn't in the house, I went out back and noticed he had pulled a bench, and climbed the fence and decided he was going to go for a walk," Tuckerman said.
Mikey was missing for an hour. Fortunately a neighbor found him unharmed but the experience got Tuckerman, who has three boys, two with autism, looking for services that can help quickly find kids or older adults who wander away due to medical conditions. He found "Project Lifesaver."
Mikey now wears a radio frequency transmitter on his ankle as part of the program.
Police have been trained to pick up that radio frequency, along with his identification number using both a handheld receiver device and mobile devices in patrol cars.
"After going out when I first started working with this equipment, I was like oh my Gosh this really works, what a great tool for us," Lt. Mary Jo Brady said. She runs "Project Lifesaver" training at the Police Academy.
Here's how it works, as soon as a family member notices a loved one has wandered away, they call 9-1-1. Detectives are then sent to the place the person was last seen and they start their search using the receivers and special information from a database.
"The person's name, things they're familiar with, places they've gone before," explains Lt. Brady.
Project Lifesaver has already proven to be successful. It's being used in other communities across the nation, including in New Jersey and in New Castle, Delaware. It's also used in other countries including Canada and Australia. In total out of 2,044 searches, all have been successful. Tuckerman says caretakers still have to take precautions but says it does give caretakers a little piece of mind that if the worst case happens the police have some extra tools that can help find people.
The Philadelphia Project Lifesaver has just started signing people up. It costs $99 up front as an administration fee and then $20 per month. But it is a non-profit organization and Tuckerman says they don't want to turn anyone in need away. So they will be offering subsides for families who cannot afford the fee.
If you would like more information call 215-698-3161 or visit www.philadelphiaprojectlifesaver.com
A fundraiser for the program (to help cover subsidies) will be held at Chickie's and Pete's in the Northeast (Roosevelt Blvd) on Sunday February 21st from 3:00 – 6:00 PM. Tickets are $35.00.
