VIDEO: Hillsborough County deputies use tracking bracelet to locate missing 9-year-old with autism

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. - The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office released bodycam footage Monday afternoon of the moment deputies located a missing child with autism.

According to HCSO, deputies used SafetyNet, a program for people with cognitive conditions like autism, dementia or Alzheimer's. In this case, the 9-year-old was wearing a special tracking bracelet that uses radio waves, making it easy for deputies to find him.

The HCSO SafetyNet team responded to the family's home in Ruskin and was able to quickly detect the child's Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) signal and begin their search.

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Weather conditions had turned adverse, according to HCSO, preventing aviation support, but the ground search persisted. The missing 9-year-old was found just before 6 p.m. on Sunday in Ruskin. The child was unharmed and hiding behind a building's A/C unit 20 minutes after the signal was detected from the bracelet. 

According to deputies, the boy parents had previously registered the child for SafetyNet which is a program with the sheriff's office that provides users with cognitive conditions with bracelets.   

Courtesy: Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office

"Safety net is incredibly easy to register for parents or just caregivers, for anyone with any cognitive disability can go on and register this person," said Jessica Lang, a spokesperson with the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.

Using radio frequency technology deputies are able to detect the person's bracelet or PLB. SafetyNet has been around since 2010 and is currently available in 18 different states. According to the company's website, to date, the technology has helped safely rescue at least 980 people.

"Our deputies' dedication in this investigation was incredible. They knew there was a missing child with autism. You can imagine that child might be scared in an unknown neighborhood. And thankfully, this child is found unharmed. Less than a mile away," Lang said.

For more information on the program and how to sign up, click here.