GALLATIN, Tenn. (WSMV) – The Sumner County Emergency Management Agency used technology to locate a missing 93-year-old woman.

The woman was reported missing and was found a short time later in an overgrown field with the help of a drone.

“Time was of the essence, especially in situations like this,” said Ken Weidner, Sumner County Emergency Management Director.

Weidner said a 93-year-old woman with Alzheimer’s disease disappeared from her home.

“We responded to the scene with the Sumner County Sheriff, Sumner EMS and the community volunteer fire department,” said Deputy Director Mickey Summers.

A moment later, according to Summers, he pulled out his drone.

“I launched a drone and in less than a minute I had it located on its own with the thermal imaging camera,” Summers said. “Before I said, ‘Hey, I got it,’ I actually flew to its location and turned on the live camera to make sure that was what I was seeing before I put it out over the radio,” Summers said.

Summer’s drone camera filmed the woman stuck with her walker in the middle of an overgrown field.

“It feels really good, especially when you can do it so quickly. I was really surprised because I had only just launched the drone,” Summers said.

He used this drone to guide the search party to their exact location.

“I was actually the first one to get to her and she was trying to move on and I said, ‘Miss Betty, are you OK?’ and she said, ‘Yes, sir,’ and I said, ‘Where are you going?’ and she said, ‘I’m going out there.’ I asked if we could go to your house and she said yes, we can go home,” Weidner said.

Since the program began, the county has used drones to locate 12 missing people.

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