Saskatoon police plane finds missing North Battleford, Sask. man in wooded area using thermal imaging camera

RCMP say the Saskatoon Police Service's Air Support Unit was instrumental in saving the life of a 66-year-old man in North Battleford, Sask.

On Monday, Gordon Bingham, 66, was reported missing after leaving his home on that morning at around 7 a.m. CST. Bingham is legally blind, and police were called when he did not return home.

After performing a ground search for several hours, RCMP eventually called Saskatoon Police, which brought in its plane at around 8 p.m.

By 9:30 p.m. pilots were able to find Bingham in a wooded area north of the city using a thermal imaging camera. By the time they found him, temperatures felt like -34 with the windchill.

"They used their FLIR (Forward-Looking Infrared Radar) system looking for heat signatures in a wooded area north of the city where he might be, and they found him," said RCMP Sgt. Wendell Houk.

After he was found, Bingham was taken to hospital where he was being treated for hypothermia and frostbite-related injuries.

The North Battleford RCMP would like to thank the public, search and rescue teams and the Air Support Unit for their help.