November 15, 2019
VESTA Software Plays Critical Role in Rescue
When a panicked mother called 911 about her missing daughter, dispatcher Sam Hall sprung into action.
The concerned mother had been receiving strange text messages from her daughter and was unable to reach her by phone.
Sam suspected something wasn’t right and knew that she needed to act fast. She got the daughter’s cell number from the mother and tried calling her numerous times before the young woman finally answered.
It was immediately clear that something was wrong. The daughter was disoriented and confused – worst of all, she had no idea where she was. Unable to pull GPS coordinates for the prepaid phone, Sam began asking questions to help determine her location.
Listening carefully and utilizing the VESTA aerial and street view maps to navigate for several hours, Sam began piecing together where the daughter might be.
“We were both blind,” said Sam. “It was important that I kept her on the line, but it was also extremely important that I had my map because my map was my visual to her.”
The daughter told Sam she remembered passing railroad tracks. Using that information to narrow down the search area, Sam located a storage unit facility where she thought the young woman might be.
Acting fast, Sam immediately dispatched her unit to search the area, and three officers arrived on the scene. Still on the phone with the daughter, Sam instructed her to make noise, ultimately leading officers to her location.
Without her map and the software that powers it, Sam might not have discovered the daughter’s location in time.