Mercer County police use drone technology to find missing child in just 10 minutes

ROBBINSVILLE, New Jersey (WPVI) -- Thermal imaging technology saved the day in Mercer County last week when a child was reported missing.

It was last Wednesday, just after sunset, when the 911 call came in reporting a young boy who was last seen running into a wooded area in Robbinsville, New Jersey.

"At the time, it was freezing temperatures. I think it was around 20 degrees, snow-covered in the woods," said Officer Michael Slininger with Robbinsville Police.

Slininger quickly dispatched the department's drone, which is equipped with thermal imaging cameras.

In the drone video, you can see it locating the child in the woods, as Slininger remotely directed the responding officers to the boy's location.

The entire incident unfolded and was resolved in less than 10 minutes.

"We did have another jurisdiction, West Windsor Township, actually sent their K9 and they were there pretty quickly in just a few minutes," Slininger recalled. "But by the time the K9 arrived, I had already located the juvenile."

Meanwhile, Action News is happy to report the child was quickly reunited with his family, completely unharmed.

Officers from the Robbinsville Police Department say this kind of technology can be used in several different settings.

In this case, it dramatically reduced the amount of time it would've taken to find a missing person in subfreezing conditions.

"It really allows officers to be in so many more places when it's really just officers watching the screen and directing those other officers," said Robbinsville Police Lt. Christopher Clifton.

Investigators added that what you can see in the video is how thick the brush is in that wooded area.

There's no telling how long it would've taken to find the boy without the drones, in the dark, and freezing cold conditions.