The boy was safely brought out of the field and driven back to reunite with his parents.
A young boy who wandered into a vast cornfield at night was successfully rescued thanks to the use of thermal imaging technology. The incident occurred in Alto, Wisconsin, where deputies from the Fond du Lac County Sheriff's Office were alerted to the missing child around 8:45 p.m. on August 25th.
With darkness making the search difficult, authorities deployed a thermal drone to scan the dense 6-foot-tall cornfield. The drone's infrared camera revealed heat signatures, allowing rescuers to pinpoint the child's location within the vast expanse of stalks, the New York Post reported.
The video begins with a drone surveying the vast expanse of a cornfield filled with 6-foot-tall stalks. In the thermal image, the rows of corn appear as a textured black-and-white pattern.
Around 9:30 p.m., a bright white shape suddenly moves through the corn, disrupting the uniform pattern on the screen-it's the missing toddler!
The footage then shows a Fond du Lac County deputy and personnel from the Alto Fire Department arriving on the scene. The rescuers, also appearing as white shapes in the thermal image, can be seen moving through the corn toward the child.
After approximately 15 minutes, they gather around the toddler. By detecting this heat signature, deputies were able to narrow their rescue efforts to a specific area of the cornfield.
The boy was safely brought out of the field and driven back to reunite with his parents.
The thermal drone footage captured the dramatic rescue, showcasing the technology's invaluable role in such critical situations.
"This incident underscores the importance of technology and collaboration among law enforcement in our community," said the Fond du Lac County Sheriff's Office.
"Without the thermal imaging drone, it likely would have taken deputies and other first responders hours to search the entire cornfield, and the outcome could have been different," the statement added.
The Sheriff's Office also noted that the boy was found about half a mile from his home.