An autistic child who went missing over the weekend has been safely found thanks to a GPS bracelet he was wearing.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office in Tampa, Florida shared an update on Monday about a boy who had been reported missing. According to the Office’s Facebook post, the search for a “9-year-old child with autism” began on Sunday just before 6 p.m.
“With the invaluable help of SafetyNet — a program that uses GPS-equipped wristbands — HCSO’s SafetyNet team was able to find a child hiding behind an air conditioning unit in the building, safe and unharmed,” the post said.
In body camera footage shared by the sheriff’s office, two members of the team are seen approaching the rear of a home in Ruskin. When they got to the back door, another deputy could be heard off camera seeing the child.
“Oh hey, friend! Here you go!” he said, walking over to the little boy crouched behind the house’s air conditioning system.
His partner joined him as he continued to call for the child to come to him. After a few moments the child appeared. Holding the hand of the deputy who found him, he left with two uniformed officers.
The 9-year-old was found about 0.02 miles from the home, News Channel 8 reports.
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“I am incredibly proud of the responsiveness and expertise of our deputies who were instrumental in this successful recovery operation,” Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said in a statement.
“Their dedication to ensuring the safety of our community, especially vulnerable individuals like this child, is truly commendable,” Chronister continued. “SafetyNet has proven to be a life-saving tool and I could not be more grateful for our strong partnership.”
The bracelet is part of a program for people with cognitive conditions like autism, dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, reports Fox 13. The HCSO SafetyNet team responded to the home and was able to quickly detect the child’s personal locator (PLB) signal to aid in their search.
Stock image of a police car.
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Officials recommend the device for families or individuals who may need extra help.
“SafetyNet is incredibly easy to register for parents or just guardians for anyone with any cognitive impairment can go ahead and register that person and then they’re given a GPS bracelet. In this case, this GPS bracelet helped us find this child within 20 minutes,” said Jessica Lang, spokeswoman for the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.
“The dedication of our deputies in this investigation was incredible,” Lange continued. “They knew there was a missing child with autism. You can imagine that child could be scared in an unfamiliar neighborhood. And luckily, this child was found unharmed. Less than a mile away.”
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education