This story triggered me
Friday, Sep 20, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller
* One of my earliest intense memories is getting yelled at by my Aunt Marsha for venturing into a fully grown cornfield with a neighbor kid. Marsha was a teenager at the time and she was babysitting me. I was four or five years old and thought it was fun. We were pretending to be monsters while we knocked down corn stalks. Marsha was worried that I’d get lost or attacked by a wild dog, and I never blamed her for being angry with me because I instantly realized what a stupid thing that was and that the neighbor kid was bad news. Once you get deep into those fields, you lose your perspective, particularly when you’re so young. Case in point…
Thermal drone footage shows the rescue of a 3-year-old who became lost after he had wandered into a 100-acre corn field alone and at night in Alto, Wisconsin.
Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s deputies received a call for help from the boy’s parents around 8:45 p.m. on Aug. 25 that their son had wandered into the expansive 6-foot-tall corn field behind their home. […]
The boy was then brought out of the corn field and driven back to be reunited with his parents.
“Instances like these highlight the importance of technology and collaboration amongst law enforcement in our community,” the Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office said.
“Without the use of the thermal imaging drone, it would likely have taken Deputies and other first responders hours to search the entire cornfield and the outcome may have been different,” he added.
Thanks, Marsha!
- Flyin'Elvis'-Utah Chapter - Friday, Sep 20, 24 @ 9:54 am:
We used to creep ourselves out traipsing through cornfields at dusk this time of year. If there is no wind the stillness and quiet is pretty eerie.
Of course, alcohol was also a factor.
- Behind the Scenes - Friday, Sep 20, 24 @ 10:17 am:
I saw that drone footage on a TV newscast when the incident happened. To watch the small image of the child being approached by the larger image of the deputy was awesome.
- fs - Friday, Sep 20, 24 @ 10:37 am:
I didn’t have an Aunt Marsha story as a kid, but I did have Children of the Corn…that was enough to keep me out of the fields
- former southerner - Friday, Sep 20, 24 @ 11:06 am:
I had a really nice, but too adventurous, Siamese cat who loved to go outside and explore. I spent close to three hours one afternoon tracking her ever deeper into one of the corn fields that surrounds my house. Fortunately my house and amateur radio tower were tall enough that it was easy to stay oriented but otherwise that very tall early August corn would have been creepy!
- The Ford Lawyer - Friday, Sep 20, 24 @ 11:10 am:
Great rescue of the kid. I can easily see something like that happening. In the subdivision where I live, the houses across the street from mine literally abut a 160-acre cornfield- the grass stops, the corn starts. A half-mile on each side of closely packed 7 or 8 foot tall corn. Pretty scary to be lost in. That’s not even considering the coyotes and other critters that occasionally wander out of there.
- Apple - Friday, Sep 20, 24 @ 11:57 am:
Speaking of triggered, more than 50 years on I still have to hear about losing one of my new shoes when I got lost in the cornfield. If I ever get to send a message back in time I’ll be torn between stock tips and warning myself not to do that so I don’t have to hear about it all my life.
- Just a Citizen - Friday, Sep 20, 24 @ 12:02 pm:
We certainly preached stay out of the cornfields to our kids when we were surrounded by fields. I’m so glad of this technology. I can remember when fields were cleared to find a lost child.
- Rich Miller - Friday, Sep 20, 24 @ 12:06 pm:
===torn between stock tips and warning myself===
Take the stock tips. lol
- Give Us Barabbas - Friday, Sep 20, 24 @ 12:17 pm:
I’ve been deep into a cornfield in August heat and corn sweat humidity: it’s not a good place for anyone in a weak condition. You can easily get heat stroke in there.
- very old soil - Friday, Sep 20, 24 @ 12:31 pm:
I remember some 40 years ago climbing to the top of the silo to find a cousin’s 4-year-old who walked in to a field of tall grass hay
- Save Ferris - Friday, Sep 20, 24 @ 2:44 pm:
Well, all I hear all day long at CapitolFax is how great Marsha is at this or how wonderful Marsha did that. Marsha! Marsha! Marsha!
- Farmer John - Friday, Sep 20, 24 @ 3:19 pm:
Yes who can forget all of the stories from yesteryear about kids being lost in cornfields. Farmers regularly finding skeletons during harvest. Good grief.
God help us if the utes of today ever have to fight a war.
- Farmer John - Friday, Sep 20, 24 @ 3:25 pm:
If a 3 yr old gets so far away that he/she takes more than 5 minutes to find, it might be time suggest bad parenting.