During the summer months, many people enjoy outdoor activities such as camping and hiking. Search and rescue personnel are also outside, but for a different reason – searching for lost individuals including children and those with mental disabilities and illnesses.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate’s (S&T) First Responders Group (FRG) has been developing and testing a suite of tools designed for first responders deployed during search and rescue operations. Taking its Lost Person Locator (LPL) project to new heights, FRG has been working in partnership with dbS Productions to develop FIND.

The new FIND software uses Lost Person Locator statistics of decisions and patterns made by lost individuals in over 150,000 past cases, known as lost person behavior.

Interested in learning more? Read the full Snapshot Story. Do you have any questions about the publication? Please e-mail st.snapshots@hq.dhs.gov.