A three-day police search-and-rescue effort for an elderly Wisconsin man who suffers from dementia was ended in 20 minutes with help from a helicopter drone.
The aircraft was used by Colorado resident and amateur drone operator David Lesh, who was visiting his girlfriend's family in Fitchburg, Wisc., when he learned of a manhunt going on for 82-year-old ophthalmologist Guillermo DeVenecia, according to International Business Times.
Lee decided to help out in the search with his drone, which he originally planned to use to film aerial ski and snowboarding footage.
"I never thought that I would be using it to find somebody," Lesh said.
"We weren't really sure what we would find or what kind of shape he would be in if we did find him ... I don't think any of us expected to find him."
DeVenecia went missing on July 16th near Fitchburg, resulting in police issuing a notice and asking local residents to help in the effort and keep an eye out for a man 5'9'' tall, 148 lbs with grey hair, wearing a blue or brown shirt, tan pants and leather sandals, Discovery News reported.
Hundreds of volunteers, search dogs and a helicopter were used in the search, but after three days, DeVenecia wasn't spotted anywhere.
Lesh flew his drone over a 200-acre field and looked over footage from the camera to try and spot DeVenecia. While it would have taken volunteers hours to look through the same area by foot, Lesh managed to find him in three minutes in the final corner of the field, stumbling around without shoes on.
After carrying DeVenecia out of the field and to their car, Lesh, his girlfriend Katie Gorman and her father, Gary Gorman took him back to the police command center. Gary was surprised that they were able to find him still alive.
"To be honest, when David was flying the drone over the bean fields, we thought we were looking for a body," Gary said.
When he was rescued, DeVenecia told Lesh and the Gormans that he was just out for a short walk and didn't know why people were looking for him.
