Police drone with thermal camera locates missing 2-year-old girl in minutes

Using a police drone with a thermal camera, members of the Dartmouth Police Department found a missing 2-year-old girl in the Freetown woods within 15 minutes.

Following a stabbing incident involving her mother earlier in the day, the toddler vanished on December 16.

To assist in the search for the missing 2-year-old, the drone unit of the Dartmouth police was dispatched to Freetown.

Officer Justin Medeiros used a drone equipped with a thermal camera to locate the heat signature of the missing girl.

With the help of the police drone, the child was found within 15 minutes, less than a mile from where she was last seen.

According to the police, Sgt. Scott Stanton was directed to the location in the woods where he discovered the child. Because of her extended exposure to the rain and cold weather, the child was then taken to a nearby hospital.

Drone with thermal camera locates girl

“This incident was the perfect example of where the crossroads of technology and good teamwork came together,” Dartmouth Chief of Police Brian Levesque said. “Had it not been for the use of our drone, and the excellent communication between my two officers, the outcome of this incident would have most likely been grave.”

The 2-year-old girl went missing when her mother, Angel-Leah Duarte, was taken into custody in connection with a stabbing that same day. Freetown police said.

Someone in Freetown called the police to say that a neighbor covered in blood was standing at their door.

Police officers who arrived on the scene discovered a 61-year-old woman who had been stabbed in the face. The officers recognized Duarte as the suspect.

When the police arrived at Duarte's house, they learned that she and her 2-year-old daughter had fled on foot. Duarte was located by police after a search, and she was detained. However, it took several hours before her daughter was found.

Duarte was accused of attempting to kill someone and using a dangerous weapon in an assault or battery.

Duarte has been charged with attempted murder, assault, and battery with a dangerous weapon.

She has been held since Monday, pending the results of a mental health evaluation.