MASON COUNTY, MI - A 74-year-old woman spent three days lost in the cold, wet West Michigan woods. She endured brutal winds, unable to move due to the cold and without a cell phone to call for help. Once she was reported missing, police used a thermal-imaging drone to find her. The search ended in just hours, likely saving her life. The Mason County Sheriff’s Office, like other agencies around the state, has implemented the use of drones in the last few years. They have found that they can now solve some cases quicker and with less manpower. Licensed officers use the drones to gain an aerial perspective, particularly in cases involving missing persons or wanted individuals. “We use it all the time,” said Mason County Sheriff Kim Cole. “Anytime we have a missing person, or we have a water emergency, the drone is automatically sent with everyone else.” Drones are also sometimes used at vehicle crash scenes. The sheriff added that drones are not used for any other purpose or to surveil people. Most recently, the county drone team was able to locate a Norton Shores woman in a heavily wooded area where she had been missing for three days. RELATED: Drone locates missing woman who survived 3 days in Mason County forest The 74-year-old woman had sought shelter from the rain Thursday, April 3, under a tree after getting lost. Her vehicle became disabled and caught fire. The next day, she was too cold to get up. “It’s incredible that she survived the elements,” Cole said, adding that it was a brisk 27 degrees on that Saturday morning. She was found three days later when Mason County first responders used a drone to locate the woman. She was 150 yards away from her vehicle in a heavily wooded area. “They knew time was going to be of the essence since she was out in the elements,” Cole said, of the drone team. Since the drones need internet to fully operate, and there wasn’t a strong signal in the rural area, deputies used a Starlink antenna to obtain internet connection. Thermal imaging technology located the woman’s body so officers could find her. Wind, other weather conditions and heavy leaves and brush, in the warmer months, can restrict drone operations. However, thermal imaging can locate through thick tree canopies, Cole said. A search team had also been walking around the woods. The sheriff’s office has five drones with four officers licensed and trained to operate them. Four are in training. The first drone was donated to the department in 2015. The county has since purchased five more. The first drone is no longer in operation. The first solved case using a drone was a water rescue, in which a 9-year-old boy was caught on a branch in the Pere Marquette River, between Scottville and Custer. The boy had been knocked off his raft in high currents, Cole said, and his parents were on shore. He was hanging on to a branch in the river as the current whipped by him. “You can imagine being a parent seeing your child stuck out on this limb,” Cole said. Deputies used the drone to hover directly over the boy and get his coordinates. Marine patrol deputies then plugged the location into their equipment and got to the boy in ten minutes. “Before drones, that’s an hours-long event,” Cole said. The sheriff’s office has mutual aid agreements with first responders across Mason County and neighboring counties. Cole said different departments have different tools to lend each other in specific cases. For example, he said Lake County Sheriff’s Office has lent their speed trailers and radar unit to Mason County. “We don’t all need the exact same tools in our individual toolboxes,” Cole said. Drones have assisted in reducing the time and officers needed to resolve a case. Not only does it help victims get help and criminals apprehended faster, but it reduces department costs overall. “It saves us the overtime,” Cole added. “It saves our (officers) from having to leave their kids’ little league games or soccer games.” Drone operators have to renew their licensing every two years and drones are registered through the Federal Aviation Administration. The county has purchased the drones, Cole said, which cost between “$3,500 to $6,500 a piece.”