Officials use thermal imaging to find missing girl who sleepwalked away from home

DUBBERLY, La. (Gray News) – A 10-year-old girl who went missing in Louisiana during the late hours of Saturday, Sept. 14, was found safe by police who used thermal imaging to locate her.

The Webster Parish Sheriff’s Office said Peyton Saintignan was last seen that Saturday around 10 p.m. at her Dubberly home.

She was wearing pajamas and no shoes, as she was reportedly getting ready for bed.

Officials sent out a missing person report for her Sunday afternoon after she was unable to be found.

Investigators said they believed she had sleepwalked away from her home.

Authorities utilized a number of dogs as well as thermal imaging via helicopter to check for body heat coming from the more wooded areas.

Hundreds of civilians also volunteered to search for the girl.

While the search was carried out, Peyton’s image was caught on a trail camera and shared with police.

In the early hours of Monday, Sept. 16, the Webster Parish Sheriff’s Office posted an update on the search, saying that Peyton had been found and was unharmed.

Peyton was spotted after drones equipped with thermal imaging discovered her, and a search party was sent to recover her.

Officials said she was found about 300 yards from where the trail camera had picked her up.

The sheriff’s office thanked all of the agencies and volunteers who assisted in the search for the 10-year-old.

“I can’t tell you how thrilled we all are to have a happy ending to this,” Sheriff Jason Parker said. “A lot of prayers were answered today.”

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