Incredible moment missing girl, 10, is found curled up in woods after frantic 24hr search using thermal-imaging drone
THIS is the miraculous moment a missing 10-year-old girl is found curled up in the woods by a thermal-imaging drone.
Young Peyton Saintignan’s disappearance sparked a frantic 24-hour search for the Louisiana girl who vanished into the forest still wearing her Frozen pyjamas.
Peyton wandered off from her family home on September 14 and was last seen walking towards a woodland area in the village of Dubberly.
Police quickly launched an intense search mission hours after Peyton’s distressed family reported her as missing.
Hundreds of volunteers also turned out to help the family scour the woods for the missing girl.
But one of the most pivotal helpers was Drone Management Services LLC from Magnolia, Arkansas who offered their drones to get an aerial look.
Their high-tech thermal imaging-equipped drones were studied by cops who soon found the child curled up in a ball asleep on the muddy floor.
The incredible birds eye footage from the drone shows Peyton still dressed in her blue pyjamas with no shoes on and a set of leaves covering her leg.
Those operating the device could be heard screaming in joy after they zoomed in and saw the girl peacefully asleep.
A member of the rescue team can then be seen going to the clearing and helping a clearly tired Peyton up at around 11pm.
The heartwarming footage goes on to show Peyton giving the man who found her a big hug before jumping into another man’s arms and being carried away to safety.
Webster Parish Sheriff Jason Parker was one of the officers who helped find the girl and carry her back to her relived parents.
He said: “She was in dense woods roughly 300 yards from where a trail camera had recorded her earlier Sunday morning
“She was asleep when we found her. We’ve had her checked by EMS and she is fine, back at home and hungry.
“I can’t tell you how thrilled we all are to have a happy ending to this. A lot of prayers were answered today.”
The company who provided the drones described helping the find the girl as a “truly heartwarming” moment.
Officers had been using helicopters to search the woods but couldn’t find any sighting of the girl due to her being covered by the towering trees.
Teams with dogs were also on hand during the desperate hunt.
Back in 2021, another woman was remarkably found by a drone after she went missing in a canyon for six months.
The 47-year-old had been living in a flimsy tent since losing her bearings but she was found when the drone looking for her body crashed into a tree nearby.
Cops who found the woman said she was underweight, but had managed to survive despite the freezing Utah temperatures in winter.