Peyton Saintignan (middle) was found using thermal imaging drone in the woods near her Shreveport, Louisiana home (Picture: Webster Parish Sheriff’s Office)

A 10-year-old girl who sleepwalked into the woods and went missing was found through using a thermal imaging drone.

Peyton Saintignan disappeared around 10pm on September 14 when she unknowingly wandered off into the woods close to her home in Shreveport, Louisiana, said the Webster Parish Sheriff’s Office.

Her family and neighbors began a desperate search for her and the sheriff, state police, a drone operator and volunteers numbering in the hundreds joined in an hour later.

‘We staged up and got everything set up, set the generator up,’ drone operator Josh Kolber told Good Morning America.

Peyton Saintignan is safe and back at home after a day long search involving many law enforcement agencies and hundreds of volunteers (Picture: Webster Parish Sheriff’s Office)

‘We had a big, flat-screen TV.’

She was found on September 15 around 11pm.

‘Other than some mosquito bites, she was perfect,’ said Sheriff Parker said. ‘It’s truly a miracle that she was unharmed.’

The young girl was found with the aid of thermal imaging-equipped drones offered by a Magnolia, Arkansas company that heard of the search and offered assistance (Picture: Webster Parish Sheriff’s Office)
Drone Management Services LLC of Magnolia offered assistance from their specially equipped drones (Picture: Webster Parish Sheriff’s Office)

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].

For more stories like this, check our news page.


MORE : Map projects Tropical Storm Helene hitting US as strongest hurricane in a year


MORE : US to have most executions within one-week span in decades


MORE : Five arrested on suspicion of murdering man who vanished without trace one month ago