OUTAGAMIE COUNTY, Wis. (WFRV) – The Outagamie County Sheriff’s Office located an 83-year-old man who was missing for more than 8 hours by using a drone.

Deputies say that without the use of the drone that it would have been ‘highly unlikely’ that the man would have been found before nightfall.

According to a release, deputies and first responders were called to a home on Old Highway 54 Road in the Town of Bovina around 7:30 p.m. on July 7, for a report of a missing man who suffers from dementia.

While deputies and first responders searched on foot, a drone equipped with a FLIR thermal camera was deployed. The camera allows a wide-area search and the ability to see heat sources.

Authorities say that after an hour of searching, they found the man alive, lying in a ‘remote area’ about 400 yards from his house.

The man was transported to a local hospital for treatment.

Local 5 will provide an update if any new information is released.