Lost for seven days, family dog found with help of thermal drone
A northwest suburban family’s pet pooch, missing for seven days, is back home thanks to an heat-sensing eye in the sky.
CRYSTAL LAKE, Ill. – A northwest suburban family is celebrating a “dog-gone miracle” after their beloved pet, missing for seven days, was found using a heat-sensing drone.
Charlie, a 2-year-old Bernese Mountain Dog, wandered away from his family’s home in Crystal Lake on Dec. 30 and vanished without a trace.
After a week of searching, the family finally reunited with their furry companion, thanks to the high-tech assistance of a thermal imaging drone.
“I just jumped in the car and started driving. He was gone,” said David Nowak, Charlie’s owner.
David Nowak and his fiancée, Kate Belmonte, spent seven days searching for Charlie with assistance from dozens of neighbors.
“The whole week he was gone, we never had a single sighting at all,” said Belmonte. “Telling all the people in the neighborhood. Put it on social media. So people had their eyes out, but nothing.”
Desperate for assistance, the couple enlisted two professional pet finders who use drones equipped with thermal imaging to locate missing animals.
On Sunday, Mike Smith of SmithicAir and Kat Kavanaugh of Dog Gone Pet Recovery deployed their drones and detected a small red heat signature in an open field about a quarter-mile away.
“Something about the thermal image I found, kind of in the middle of the field,” recalled Smith. “It had the right temperature to it. And I think on the video you can hear me going ‘come on, come on, come on.’”
David and Kate watched in awe as the small red dot on the drone’s screen transformed into an image of their missing dog.
“I was watching the screen. I’m probably the guy going ‘oh my God, oh my God we got him.’ That was my voice. The tears started coming. It’s hard to describe the feeling.”
It turns out Charlie had taken shelter in some tall grass after apparently being hit by a car and suffering a broken leg.
“The surgery was like, there were so many metal plates and screws. But they say he’s a young dog. He’s going to recover,” David said.
“Just to say he’s finally found. That was such a good feeling,” added Kate.
For Smith and Kavanaugh it’s another success story in what has become a rewarding business.
“It is when it’s successful,” said Smith. “It’s equally devastating if you can’t find the pet. But when it’s successful, it’s great.”
Charlie’s owners say they want to share their story to let people know that if their furry friend disappears, there’s always hope from up above.
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