Search Involved Hundreds of Volunteers and Agencies

Webster Parish Sheriff’s Office reported a ten-year-old girl, Peyton Saintignan, missing late on September 22. After a several-hour search including hundreds of volunteers and law enforcement agencies, a thermal sensing-equipped drone was able to save the day.

The Sheriff’s office reported that Saintignan hadn’t been seen since around bedtime on September 21 at her Dubberly, Louisiana home. Local volunteers from Webster Parish Sheriff’s Office, Minden Police Dept., Minden Fire Dept., Homeland Security, DeSoto Parish Sheriff’s Office, Bienville Parish Sheriff’s Office, David Wade Correction Chase Team, and LA Wildlife and Fisheries jumped in to assist the search.

“We had the DeSoto Parish helicopter in the air and couldn’t put drones up at the time,” explained Sheriff Jason Parker.

With the helicopters unable to locate Saintignan, county officials sent drone and dog teams. Among these was Magnolia-based Drone Management Services, who contacted Sheriff Parker after hearing about the search from a family member.

Drone operator Josh Klober, along with Matt Ramos and Micah Carter, brought his UAS equipped with thermal sensing. At around 11:00 pm, Klober was able to find the girl curled up and asleep in the dense forest.

After relaying her position to the search party, volunteers made their way out to locate Saintignan. Drone footage shows volunteers approaching, waking her up, and bringing her to safety.

Parker noted that she was roughly 300 yards from where a trail camera had spotted her earlier in the morning. Saintignan was given a quick check-up by EMS, then was taken back home with just a few bug bites to show for her trip.

“I can’t tell you how thrilled we all are to have a happy ending to this,” Parker noted. “A lot of prayers were answered today. And, I want especially to thank all the agencies who helped bring Peyton safely home, and all the volunteers who gave their time and efforts. This was truly a cooperative effort.”

FMI: www.webstersheriff.org