On Sunday afternoon a group went into the Alutaguse forest to pick cranberries. At some point they realised one man had separated from the others. He had no phone with him, and searches by his companions brought no result.
After the group notified the emergency centre, patrol officers, dog handlers with service dog Hugo and a remote-sensing team with a drone went out to search. The drone took off and the dog picked up a trail on the ground. The missing man was soon seen on the drone camera and was signalled through a loudspeaker while the dog handlers moved towards him. The drone pilots kept reporting how far away he was, and he was found shortly afterwards.
The Eastern Prefecture said finding him was only half the task. The Alutaguse forest was very wet and boggy, and a drier way out was hard to find. Watching from above, the drone pilots guided the dog handlers step by step towards the most practical route out of the forest.
The man was brought out unharmed and did not need medical assistance.
Source: pohjarannik.postimees.ee
Alutaguse forest search · police drone Estonia · service dog Hugo · cranberry picker missing · Eastern Prefecture · remote sensing rescue