Drone Rescues Missing Kirkland Woman After Two Days

A missing 27 year old woman from Kirkland, Washington was rescued from dense woods near the Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery after a King County Sheriff’s deputy used a drone equipped with thermal imaging, turning a tense search into a life saving recovery, as reported by FOX13 Seattle.

Drone Finds What Ground Search Could Not

Jahnaya Broadnax was reported missing from her Kirkland apartment last week during a mental health crisis, and authorities were concerned from the start since she was not dressed for cold weather and was believed to be barefoot.

For two days there were no confirmed sightings, until an unexpected call changed everything.

Security staff and janitors working at Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery dialed 911 after hearing faint cries for help coming from a wooded area west of the winery.

Deputies responded, and one King County Sheriff’s deputy quickly launched a drone to scan the area from above, relying on thermal imaging to cut through darkness, brush, and uneven terrain.

At first, the drone picked up a heat signature that turned out to be wildlife, a reminder of how deceptive forests can be at night. Moments later, another heat source appeared.

“I think we have actually a head moving around. It looks like a person lying down,” the deputy operating the drone said over the radio.

Thermal Imaging Confirms a Human in Distress

As the drone hovered overhead, deputies on the ground began to hear the same thing the winery workers had reported.

“I just heard another voice. It definitely sounds like a person, not an animal,” one deputy confirmed.

Guided by the drone’s live feed, deputies reached Broadnax in the woods. She was injured, soaking wet, and missing much of her clothing, including her shoes. She was suffering from hypothermia and was unable to walk on her own.

Search and rescue teams, along with police and fire crews, coordinated her extraction from the wooded area. Deputies requested fire crews to walk in and assist, and Broadnax was carefully carried out on a stretcher before being transported to Evergreen Hospital, where she was reunited with her mother.

King County’s Large UAV Fleet Makes the Difference

This rescue highlights just how deeply drones are now embedded in modern law enforcement operations. The King County Sheriff’s Office states that it operates a fleet of 62 UAVs, one of the largest and most diverse drone programs in the region.

According to 2024 records, the department flies nearly every variation of the DJI Mini series, including the Mini 4 Pro, along with the Mavic 2 Enterprise and Mavic 3 Enterprise.

Their fleet also includes DJI Avata for specialized operations, as well as heavy duty platforms like the Matrice 30 and the Matrice 350 RTK.

While officials did not publicly confirm the exact model used in this search, the capabilities described strongly suggest that either a DJI Matrice 30 or a Matrice 350 RTK was deployed, both of which are commonly used for night operations, thermal imaging, and complex search and rescue missions.

DroneXL’s Take

This rescue is a textbook example of why public safety drone programs matter, especially when agencies invest not just in one aircraft, but in a full fleet designed for different scenarios.

Thermal imaging drones like the Matrice 30 and Matrice 350 RTK are not flashy toys, they are quiet force multipliers that can find a human being in minutes where ground teams might take hours. In this case, a drone did not just speed up a search, it very likely saved a life.

Photo credit: King County Sheriff’s, DJI.