Transmitter helps authorities find missing boy
Published 3:48 pm Sunday, September 9, 2012
HOLLANDALE — Technology helped authorities find an 11-year-old boy Saturday who went missing from his home in this community.
Through the Project Life Saver program, started three years ago in Freeborn County, deputies found the boy in a cornfield less than 25 minutes after he was first reported missing. A deputy used a device known as a LoJack receiver to track a transmitter bracelet worn by the boy, according to a Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office news release.
This was the first successful track utilizing the system in Freeborn County.
The release stated dispatchers received a 911 call of the missing boy at about 8:50 a.m. Saturday from the 400 block of Central Ave.
Hollandale firefighters coordinated a search with the family, neighbors, on- and off-duty deputies, and the Clarks Grove and Geneva Fire Departments. An off-duty deputy brought the receiver to assist in the search.
Patrol Sgt. Ryan Shea said the program is used by families who have children with autism or Down syndrome and also by adults with Alzheimer’s disease.
The families come into the Law Enforcement Center once a month to have the batteries changed in the bracelets.