DJI Matrice 30T Drone Finds Missing Teen in 17 Minutes

A 13-year old boy who ran away from home in Ocean County did not stay missing for long.

Police in Ocean Township launched a drone Thursday evening and located the teen in just 17 minutes after deployment, turning what could have become a freezing overnight search into a tightly executed aerial recovery, as NEWS 12 NJ reported.

Why the DJI Matrice 30T Excels in Search and Rescue

Flying the mission was Sgt. Michael Matelski, one of three FAA licensed pilots in the department. He deployed a DJI Matrice 30T, a compact but highly capable enterprise aircraft built specifically for public safety and industrial operations.

The Matrice 30T, often referred to simply as the M30T, combines multiple sensors in one platform. It features a wide camera, a powerful zoom camera, and an integrated thermal imager.

That thermal sensor allows officers to detect heat signatures in low light, dense vegetation, smoke, or complete darkness. In situations like this one, where fading daylight and freezing temperatures increase risk, thermal imaging can mean the difference between hours of searching and a rapid visual confirmation.

The aircraft is also rated for harsh weather conditions, with resistance to rain, dust, and strong winds. It folds into a portable case, deploys quickly, and can be airborne in minutes. For first responders, speed is everything. The Matrice 30T delivers that speed without sacrificing image quality or situational awareness.

In this case, officers used Life360 data to narrow the search area before launching. Once airborne, the drone located the teen hiding in a dense clump of trees along a bulkhead at the edge of the frozen Oyster Creek.

The wooded terrain and icy banks created hazardous conditions for ground teams. From above, the drone turned a maze of branches and shadows into a clear operational picture.

A Global Standard for Fire, Police, and Rescue

The Matrice 30T is widely adopted by fire departments, police agencies, and search and rescue teams across the United States, Europe, and Asia. Its thermal capability makes it ideal for locating missing persons, tracking suspects, identifying hotspots in structure fires, and assessing disaster zones after storms or floods.

Departments favor the platform because it strikes a balance between portability and performance. It is smaller and faster to deploy than larger industrial drones, yet powerful enough to carry advanced sensors that previously required bulkier aircraft. Combined with trained pilots and proper protocols, it becomes a force multiplier that reduces risk to personnel on the ground.

Ocean Township police purchased their drone using federal grant funding. While this marked the first time the department used it to locate a missing child, it has already been deployed to search for criminal suspects and an adult with memory issues.

Seventeen minutes from launch to recovery.

That is the kind of response time agencies aim for when minutes can quickly turn into life threatening exposure in winter conditions.

DroneXL’s Take

The DJI Matrice 30T continues to prove why it has become a benchmark platform for public safety worldwide. Compact, rugged, and equipped with thermal vision, it gives first responders an aerial advantage that simply did not exist a decade ago.

Cases like this reinforce a clear reality. Enterprise drones are no longer optional technology for modern departments. They are essential tools that shorten search times, improve safety, and deliver results when conditions are working against you.

Photo credit: Ocean Township Police Department, DJI.