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Dramatic footage shows heat-seeking tech leading rescuers to missing Michigan toddler curled up in ditch
By Audrey Conklin
Published April 08, 2025
Michigan State Police (MSP) on Sunday rescued a missing 2-year-old boy curled up in a ditch on the side of the freeway using heat-detecting technology.
Video footage of the heat-seeking vision technology from a helicopter, shared by MSP on Facebook, shows the dramatic rescue.
"I got another heat censor. We're going to be south of the apartment, just north of the freeway.… In a ditch. I can't tell if it's an animal or a child," an MSP trooper says over a police radio in the video.
"This is looking like this is possibly the child, but it can't be confirmed yet," the officer can be heard saying a moment later in the footage.
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Video footage of the heat-seeking vision technology from a helicopter, shared by MSP on Facebook, shows the dramatic rescue of a 2-year-old Michigan boy. (Michigan State Police)
The rescue began on Sunday evening, when the Blackman-Leoni Department of Public Safety (BLDPS) responded to the area of Pheasant Run Drive in Blackman Township after receiving a call about a missing 2-year-old boy, who was last seen watching TV in his family's living room around 8:43 p.m.
The 911 call came through about an hour later.
Multiple agencies responded and units to the area, including the Blackman-Leoni K-9 unit, a MSP K-9 unit, a MSP helicopter, officers from several different departments and volunteers who "conducted a thorough search" for "nearly two hours," BLDPS said in a press release.
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(Michigan State Police found the toddler curled up in a ditch.)
At about 11:33 p.m., MSP Aviation located the missing child near Interstate 94, curled up in a ditch, wearing only a diaper, the BLDPS said.
Troopers using heat-seeking technology located the 2-year-old "within 15 minutes in the area," MSP said in a Facebook post.
Troopers using heat-seeking technology located the 2-year-old, who was wearing only a diaper, "within 15 minutes in the area," MSP said in a Facebook post. (Michigan State Police)
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"Trooper 2 directed ground units to the child, who was conscious and alert and did not appear injured. You can see officers comforting the child as they walked [sic] to a waiting ambulance," MSP said.
Authorities transported the toddler to a nearby hospital in good condition, officials said.
MSP did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/dramatic-footage-shows-heat-seeking-tech-rescuers-missing-michigan-toddler-ditch