Rescue group finds those lost from the skies

WISCONSIN RAPIDS -- Falling temperatures. A storm rolling in. And time slipping away.

In mid-March, first responders were searching for a 59-year-old Wisconsin Rapids woman who had gone missing. They had been searching for about two hours on foot, Wisconsin Rapids Police Department officers scrambling to find her ahead of an incoming winter storm.

That’s when they called in Wings of Hope.

“I fly recovery drones, search and rescue drones,” said Daniel Reis, a volunteer with the organization. “They filled me in with what they had done for searches, where they were at, and it had gotten dark and they’d had no luck.”

The nonprofit was started in 2018 by Brad Smith of Medford. Reis, Smith and three others work with police and fire departments, and even the FBI, to find missing people using drone technology throughout the Midwest.

They took that expertise to the skies in March to find the missing woman, who was suffering from several health issues. Officials told Reis she recently had had a stroke, which had made her disorientated.

“We also found out she’s diabetic,” Reis said. “Getting that person quickly and getting their medications that they may need was really, really important.”

Without medication to stabilize her blood sugar, the woman potentially could have faced a diabetic emergency, including coma or even death. But, with proper treatment, the Mayo Clinic says the coma can be reversed.

Reis formulated a search area then launched his drone, which uses thermal imaging to detect body heat, especially useful in wooded areas and in the dark. But time was running short.

“I had about 45 minutes before the storm was going to hit,” Reis said.

He cleared each grid methodically, moving to new areas when nothing was shown on his screens. But then he got a positive hit. While it was a woman, she wasn’t the person they were searching for.

He kept looking, returning to an area officials had already searched on foot.

About five minutes after that first encounter, his persistence paid off.

“With the equipment we use I dropped a pin on her,” Reis said. “That gave police a GPS coordinate where they could go. Within minutes they had her.”

Reis first met Nick Wayerski, owner of Marshfield Drones, in 2012 at the Central Wisconsin State Fair, where the Wayerski had a display of 3D-printed drones. But it took about another year before Reis met Brad Smith, co-founder of Wings of Hope. They all worked together to form the nonprofit.

“The first time we found a gal up in Medford, and she was alive where by morning she would have been dead, that was a huge win for us,” Reis said.

“Brad was literally jumping up and down, running up and down the road, he was so excited.”

And while Wings of Hope’s main mission is to find missing people, they do have bills to pay.

“Most of the time we spend searching for stuff, it’s not people,” Reis said. “We’re looking for lost dogs, we’re looking for deer, all kinds of stuff, which really keeps us on top of our equipment.”

For those searches, they do charge a fee. There are also the startup costs. Drones that use thermal imaging can cost thousands of dollars.

“Most (police departments) don’t have a budget to purchase the particular equipment we have because it’s very expensive,” Reis said.

So far, he said he’s invested more than $40,000 in equipment.

Reis and the other Wings of Hope volunteers all are licensed commercial drone pilots. That means that they can fly for-hire, are insured and know the laws. For instance, the Federal Aviation Administration requires drones to stay below 400 feet. Pilots also must keep the drone in sight and avoid other aircraft.
While Wings of Hope doesn’t do it for recognition, they do want to get the word out to other first responders that they’re here to help – no matter the time, or the weather.

“Storm or not, I would have continued to fly until I had located her or exhausted all possible areas that she was at,” Reis said.