A man who went missing in New Jersey was found in an icy ravine after first responders picked up a ping from his Apple AirTag, according to New Jersey Transit Police.
Authorities had been searching for the man since Thursday, February 5. The next morning, at around 8:40, emergency crews near the 9th Street light rail station in Jersey City detected his AirTag signal. The New Jersey Transit Police and the Hoboken Fire Department located him about 12 metres down an embankment on the Hoboken-Jersey City border.
Police said he had fallen into a ravine and was too injured to move. He had been exposed to freezing temperatures for several hours.
Body cam footage posted on YouTube shows responders setting up ropes and a rescue board before pulling him up the slope. In a statement, New Jersey Transit Police said, “Officers with New Jersey Transit Police’s highly specialized Emergency Services Unit created a rope rescue system, using their truck as an anchor, to pull the man to safety as part of a team effort with Hoboken Fire Department.”
Apple’s AirTag sends a secure Bluetooth signal to nearby devices on the Find My network, a feature meant to help people locate lost items like keys or luggage. In this case, the device gave responders the location they needed to track the man down.
He was taken to the hospital for treatment and is expected to survive, police said.
