Stranger Has Gut Feeling About Missing Boy And Dog So He Uses His Drone And Finds Bright Spot

Sep 18, 2021 by apost team

Everyone knows that it’s one of every parent’s worst nightmares to lose their child outdoors. To not know where your child is and if they are safe, especially during cold weather, is one of the scariest things a parent can imagine. Yet these types of situations are just as frightening for the children that find themselves lost and alone, just hoping their parents find them.

That was the case for Ethan Haus when he got lost in a rural area in his hometown of Becker, Minnesota for nearly 10 hours back in October 2019. Ethan, 6 years old at the time, had just stepped off his school bus and was in a rush to play with his dog, Remington, who is arguably his best friend. He and Ethan have been literally almost inseparable since the family first got Remington as a young pup.

Ethan’s parents were used to their son and his pup going out to play myriad games and exploring the rural property in the area. But that day was different. When it started to get dark Ethan’s parents started to worry. And when temperatures started to dip into the low 40s, they likely started to panic.

Pretty soon the majority of the close-knit community was performing a community-wide search to find Ethan — and, of course, to find Remington too! Over 600 people volunteered to come together to find the young boy. A state patrol helicopter was even on the scene.

The volunteer searchers and law enforcement officers combed the area, searching Becker, Minnesota, which is filled with cornfields.

The volunteers plowed through the cornfields. It had been ten hours since Ethan and Remington had been missing, and as the night got colder and it became completely dark outside, his parents likely realized their worst nightmare had come true.

However, local man Steve Fines had something up his sleeve. Fines is a local drone operator who owns a drone business that takes aerial photos, Fines Aerial Imagine. Although he’d never used a drone in a missing person case, he realized he had a drone with a thermal lens, and therefore he could help find Ethan.

“I couldn’t go to bed knowing that I hadn’t done something,” Fines told CBS News Minnesota.

The authorities permitted Steve to use his drone, desperate to find Ethan at that point. Sure enough, the drone almost immediately captured a bright spot shaped like a dog in a cornfield, pinpointing exactly where Ethan and Remington were.

“(Searchers) were not walking to the site, they were running, you know. You could hear them breathing heavily and crashing through bush and through the cornfields and everything, and then there was a lot of yelling,” Fines said.

After rescuers located Ethan and Remington, they sent the boy to the hospital. However, apart from being cold overnight, authorities told CBS News that Ethan was fine.

The story of Ethan’s rescue shows the incredible meaning and power of an active community.

“We never thought so many people would come. We asked for help, and people came from all over,” Ethan’s mother told CBS News.

In a statement, the local Sheriff, Joel Brott, seemed to agree with the mother’s sentiment.

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“This truly was the epitome of a community caring for its own,” Brott said. “To see the outpouring of support in such a short time period to come out and help find this boy and his dog is heartwarming.”

Since news outlets picked Ethan’s story up in 2019, it has brought a smile to viewers and readers across the globe. Even Kelly Clarkson featured Ethan on her talk show as part of her “Good Neighbors” segment.

On the show, Ethan’s parents provided further details about the rescue.

“Allen, who was a person that I’ve known for my entire life, he was going through the thickest underbrush and mud and all this kind of stuff. And the worst thing is that he has cancer, and he’s going through radiation and all these other types of things, but he gave up his night to come and look. It didn’t matter how sick he was,” Ethan’s dad, Dan Haus, told Clarkson, who was close to tears.

Ethan’s story, which reached a wider audience through Clarkson’s show, has inspired hundreds of thousands of people. And the comments section is evidence of that.

“I love how the rescuers are nearly in tears talking about the lost little boy. They are ‘hunters’ all tough and strong, but those men love their boys. What great men and fathers they are!!” one YouTuber wrote.

“I live in Minnesota and remember this story.  Everyone was on edge and celebrated when he was found.  The joy was echoed throughout the entire state,” another viewer commented.

As these comments show, Ethan’s story is about more than an uplifting rescue — it also shows the importance of community.

What do you think about Ethan’s rescue? Have you ever heard of someone using a drone to find a missing person? Let us know — and pass this heartwarming story on to others.