County law enforcement officials utilized two radio-controlled drones Dec. 4, 2020, to locate a fugitive who had fled on foot from a minor traffic stop by the Nevada Highway Patrol near the rest stop south of Alamo on U.S. Highway 93.

Officials said the drones, privately owned and operated by volunteers with Lincoln County Search and Rescue, “were of the utmost help in finding and keeping track of [the fugitive, Michael Tate]” as he tried to escape in the hills east of the rest stop.

According to Sheriff Kerry Lee, his department has a drone of its own, “but we are using volunteers right now,” which he felt is working very well. “We used two personal drones in this case, so (during daylight hours) one was up at all times.”

Dan Park and Derek Bowman are the leaders of the Search and Rescue team in the southern part of the county. Hal Chatwin in Pioche is captain of the entire county.  

Bowman said in regard to looking for Tate, “This was probably the best example of what we could say about the drones.”

He said once an individual is located with a drone, the on-board camera can zoom in to see if the person might have a firearm. “One of the most perfect examples of utilizing law enforcement.”

Lee commented that without knowing if Tate was armed, “Sending officers into the brush could have resulted in an ambush.”

Sam Lytle and Dan Park, Search and Rescue volunteers, have private drones and helped with the search

“It’s helpful to have two drones and two operators,” said Bowman. “With the distances…which may be a mile to a mile and a half away, by the time the drone finds the subject of interest, you might only have 10-15 minutes of surveillance time before you need to bring that drone back and swap batteries. In the meantime, the second drone can be sent to the specific location to keep the subject under surveillance.”

Bowman said drones are beneficial in other ways as well. “We can get them up high and cover a larger area, especially areas that may or may not be accessible on foot. We can send the drone and map out a coverage area. You can program quadrants into your drone and have it fly in those quadrants, back and forth, up and down, along specific lines. That’s helpful because it gives us a bird’s eye view of what’s going on, in addition to having people walking on the ground, using binoculars.

Bowman added, “The drone video is being recorded real time and if necessary, can even zoom in closer and send video remotely to an expert photo forensics lab for analysis. They specialize in identifying objects that don’t belong in that video.”

“The next thing we’re looking to find,” he said, “is grant funding for one of the newer drones that has thermal imaging cameras available for use.” 

He said, “It is the many volunteers with the Search and Rescue teams in the county that make it possible for us to go out and find people and keep the county safe. We have a number of volunteers in the southern part of the county. They have an inventory of capabilities and equipment that we know we can call on.”

Lee said many drones were used unsuccessfully to try to locate Trevor Bazil of Panaca, who has been missing since Aug. 14, 2020. “We covered a lot of territory. One drone from Salt Lake covered large areas, and photos were sent to a lab in Salt Lake for closer analysis.”

Bowman said anyone who would like to volunteer for Search and Rescue should call him at (520) 906-7373.