DJI Drone Helps Find Missing Elderly Man in the Cold

A DJI drone helped rescue a missing 90-year-old Atoka County man who spent nearly 12 hours lost in freezing temperatures. Wagoner County Emergency Management deployed its team after Oklahoma officials called for help. Ground crews, horses, and even the National Guard searched the area, but it was the drone team that made the breakthrough.

Volunteer pilot Eric Lane launched his aircraft and within fifteen minutes saw a clear heat signature in the woods. The drone’s thermal camera showed the man curled up inside his coat, reports KRMG. Lane then switched to the visible camera to confirm the sighting. Rescue teams hiked to the location and found the man and his dog Daisy using body heat to stay alive through the night.

Lane used the drone’s speaker to tell the man that help was on the way: that message gave rescuers extra time to reach him. The Atoka County Sheriff’s Office says the man survived the ordeal but has not shared his current condition.

Local officials say drones have become essential tools. Wagoner County Emergency Management Director Tyler Puckett says their team uses drones almost every day to track suspects, locate missing juveniles, and guide firefighters during grass and structure fires. They are also part of a regional task force that can deploy drone operators across Oklahoma when needed.

The DJI Matrice 30 Used in the Rescue

The drone used in this search was the DJI Matrice 30. It is one of the most capable and rugged commercial drones available today. It balances power and portability, which makes it ideal for cold weather operations and long missions in remote locations.

The Matrice 30 can fly for up to 41 minutes, resist wind up to 12 meters per second, climb to altitudes near 7000 meters, and reach speeds up to 23 meters per second. It is built for harsh environments and has an IP55 rating. That means it handles rain, dust, and temperatures from minus 20 degrees Celsius to 50 degrees Celsius without trouble.

Safety is a major focus in the Matrice 30 design. It has dual vision and time of flight sensors on all six sides of the aircraft. This helps prevent collisions and keeps the crew aware of any obstacles. It also carries an ADS B receiver to warn pilots about nearby aircraft.

The Matrice 30 is compact and folds easily for transport. Inside the camera system you find a wide camera, a powerful zoom camera, a thermal imaging camera, and a laser rangefinder. The thermal camera is what allowed Lane to detect the missing man almost instantly. The zoom camera can reach up to 200 times hybrid zoom, which helps pilots confirm what they see on the thermal feed.

For night operations, the drone includes a low light FPV camera that shows the ground and horizon clearly even in darkness. The remote controller has a seven inch display and buttons placed for fast mission control and it can run for six hours thanks to internal and external batteries with hot swap capability.

The Matrice 30 also works with FlightHub 2, a cloud system that helps teams plan routes, map terrain, and share live video with command centers. It supports live annotations, mission planning, and multi user viewing during active operations.

How Drones Are Changing Search and Rescue

This rescue shows how much search and rescue work has changed in recent years. Finding someone hidden in thick brush on a cold night is extremely difficult for ground crews. A thermal camera in the sky cuts that time from hours to minutes. The drone can also guide teams directly to the exact location, which reduces the risk for rescuers and increases the chance of survival for the missing person.

Emergency crews in the United States now rely on drones for everything from disaster response to wildfire tracking. In rural areas like Atoka County, drones bridge the gap when manpower is limited and terrain is rough. As more teams adopt platforms like the Matrice 30, rescues like this one will become faster and more efficient.

DroneXL’s Take

The DJI Matrice 30 continues to prove why it is the standard for public safety teams, its thermal camera and rugged design make it perfect for cold night searches. This rescue shows the real world value of modern drones: they give small departments big capabilities and save lives in situations where every minute matters.

Photo credit: Wagoner County PD