RescueLoJack technology helps in two rescue efforts

LoJack says that thanks to two services from LoJack Corporation and its subsidiary LoJack SafetyNet, Inc., law enforcement agencies on opposite coasts of the United States were able to make two saves last week, rescuing two young kidnapped children who were inside a stolen Lexus in Burien, Washington, and an elderly Marshfield, Massachusetts man with Alzheimer’s who wandered from his home and was stuck in a marsh.

In the dramatic recovery of the two boys, the LoJack Stolen Vehicle Recovery System was used by King County Sheriff’s Office detectives to track down a stolen Lexus GS300 and safely rescue two boys (a 7-month old and a 2-year-old), who were kidnapped by the mother’s ex-boyfriend.  The children, who were seated in the back of the car, were with their mother at a library parking lot when they were approached by the suspect, who is the father of the seven-month old.  A homeless man with gang affiliations and a history of domestic violence, assault, and weapons use, the suspect approached the mother and tried to hit her.  She fled to escape him and the suspect then jumped in the car and drove off with the children.

This incident led to the issuing of an Amber Alert and a report to police that the mother’s LoJack-equipped vehicle was stolen, which automatically activated the transponder covertly installed in the Lexus.  Officers initially picked up the silent LoJack signal through the Sheriff Office’s Guardian One helicopter and the Washington State Patrol Aviation unit, then tracked down the vehicle and approached the car.  Although the suspect tried to flee, they successfully brought him into custody.  The children were returned to their mother unharmed and the vehicle was recovered undamaged.

The other rescue story happened on 21 May in the town of Marshfield, Massachusetts, and involved the SafetyNet by LoJack service, which enables public safety agencies to find and rescue people with cognitive conditions such as autism and Alzheimer’s who are prone to wandering and becoming lost.  In this instance, the SafetyNet service helped local police rescue an 82-year-old man with Alzheimer’s disease who wandered away from his home and did not return.  Upon realizing that he was missing, his wife contacted the Marshfield Police Department and informed them that he was enrolled in the SafetyNet service.

The Marshfield Police and Fire Departments deployed ground units to search for him. Just thirty minutes after he was reported missing, police picked up a signal from the missing man’s SafetyNet bracelet and located him nearly one-half of a mile away from his residence.  He was tangled in a marsh area at the bank of a river and not initially visible.  According to police, if the man wasn’t located so quickly, his life could have been endangered due to him being tangled and the forthcoming high tide.