Drone Helps Police Find Blind Man, 62, Missing in Woods for 33 Hours: 'Time Was of the Essence'

Photo: Enfield Police Department

A bird’s-eye view succeeded in helping police locate a missing blind man over the weekend.

On Saturday morning, a concerned family member alerted the Enfield Police Department in Connecticut about his missing 62-year-old brother, who is blind and hadn’t been seen since the previous morning, the police said in astatement.

Investigators were able to determine that the man likely “walked away from the home and became disoriented.” Frigid winter weather made the search all the more urgent.

“Due to the temperature, there was concern about hypothermia and it was clear that time was of the essence for a successful outcome,” Enfield PD said.

“It’s similar to kind of looking for a needle in a haystack,” Thiel toldWTIC. “You know you just kind of go out there looking for something and just happen to spot something.”

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories

After about 30 minutes, police said, the man was located about 100 yards into a wooded area, down an embankment and hidden from plain view.

“This stuff is probably about chest high that they are walking through, so it took some effort,” Thiel told WTIC of crews making their way to the man through the overgrown wooded area.

According to police, the man said he had become “disoriented due to medical conditions,” and rescuers determined that he had been outdoors for an estimated 33 hours — withstanding overnight temperatures in the single digits.

source: people.com