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[THEATRICAL MUSIC]
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Project Lifesaver was implemented in 2002
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at the Lynchburg Sheriff's Office
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We wanted to offer this to the citizens
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of Lynchberg to give the caregivers
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and family members peace of mind that
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their loved ones can be found quickly
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Well I was a police officer in Chesapeake
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Virginia for 33 years
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One of my jobs was commanding officer of
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special operations which was
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SWAT and search and rescue.
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We were having a lot of recurring searches
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for Alzheimer's patients that had wandered
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and frankly we weren't doing a very
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good job of finding them.
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And I really was getting a little tired
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and disheartened about
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having to tell families that we were
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discontinuing the search or worse, that we
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had found them however
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Project Lifesaver, number one is a tool to
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help public safety personnel locate people
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that have a condition that would cause
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them to wander.
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It's not just equipment,
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that's the big thing
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We're not just a vendor or something,
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we're a programme.
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We have had 92 successful searches
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its a great feeling, its a great peace of
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mind for families and citizens of
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Lynchburg. We enjoy getting to know the
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families and building reports with
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them, so it really hits home when one
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wanders and you know more about them
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you have a bond with the family and
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the child or the adult.
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My fervent hope was to be able to find
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something that would help us in,
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making these searches more successful.
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I came across some information about
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wildlife tracking,
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and a thought occurred to me.
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If we can do this with wildlife,
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why can't we do it with people?
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So, I was able to contact a company,
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get them to work with me
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and develop a transmitter that
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could be put on a person's arm.
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And that was the start of
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Project Lifesaver.
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Our passion, our desire.
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We think Project Lifesaver,
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the Lynchburg Project
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Lifesaver program, is our premier
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community service program here in the
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city of Lynchberg.
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We provide it now
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at no cost to those that cannot afford it
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through an annual fundraiser and so,
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but, again the goal behind that is
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when we bring that individual back home,
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safely and historically with our 92 all
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within thirty minutes or less.
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The emotion that we feel, the
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satisfaction that we have done our job
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and done it well, with the assistance of
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this technology.
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You can't put a price on that because
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someone's life, someone's loved one
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is brought home and
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it makes a difference.
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I tell people when you work for
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Project Lifesaver International,
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it's not a job, it's a way of life.
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And you adapt yourself to it.
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[THEATRICAL MUSIC]
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I'm not getting a signal.
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We're going to have to call in the drone.
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I used to describe it and still do as when
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you're searching for somebody and you
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don't anything like this to help you, you
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are actually doing a swag search.
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And people say, 'Well what's a swag?'
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I said , it's a scientific wildass guess.
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Before Project Lifesaver
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you didn't have any resources
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but
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individuals.
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When we first started the program,
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I mean it was very bare basics.
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You know we had the receiver,
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we had the transmitter.
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And they were pretty,
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bare.
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I mean it was just,
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it was a, something had never
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been done before, so we were doing what
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we could with what we had.
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The new hat tracking equipment that
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could assist with you,
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assist with the search,
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narrow it down, make it a little faster,
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give that extra peace of mind
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to caregivers.
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Of course when the Project Lifesaver came
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to Lynchburg Sheriff's Office we
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had basic receivers that we used and in
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fact our first rescue we used those
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receivers and saved a ninety-two year-old
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lady that had wandered from a nursing home
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Using that equipment she was located
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in eight minutes and she would not have
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made it until morning, it was in December
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and all she had on was a house coat.
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I kept feeling, well we,
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we need to be stepping ahead.
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We need to improve all the time.
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We need to make it easier
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for the agencies, easier for the people.
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Give them more,
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more that they can work with.
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Then you're actually able to extend
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that
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through air searches.
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Which was wonderful
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but the availability of getting
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a helicopter in a timely manner
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and getting someone available to fly the
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helicopter, you're having to depend on
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other people and other departments and
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other resources.
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Helicopters are great, I love ' em.
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However, they're expensive
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and when you need 'em
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sometimes you can't get 'em.
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Maintenance issues, weather issues,
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crew issues.
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And even if you can get it,
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you're thirty to forty-five minutes
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and sometimes an hour away
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from it arriving on scene.
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Where with the drone, if you had that
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you could just implement the search right
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there, you don't have to depend on
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getting an outside agency to come in
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and start your search.
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Here's something you can have
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in the trunk of the car
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and it gives you what a helicopter would
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give you and it gives it to you
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much quicker, much cheaper.
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[THEATRICAL MUSIC]
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I was on a search and rescue at one point
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and the individual, he had autism,
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and he had wandered, and he had
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actually gone on his bicycle.
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So we do not know how far
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he had gotten at that point,
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we weren't getting a signal from
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his last known location, so of course we
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had to spread out our perimeter.
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But we live in a very hilly city,
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there's tons of hills, low dips, creeks,
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and he had actually gotten along a creek
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line and was just gunning it!
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I mean he had gotten miles from home,
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quickly,
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I mean he was a young boy. So,
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with having just the
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ground units, it made it difficult.
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The average Alzheimer's search lasts
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nine hours. The average cost is fifteen
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hundred dollars an hour.
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You factor that into
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you can search with this equipment
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and in thirty minutes find this person,
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this program is already paid for itself
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and much cheaper than you would have by
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launching this massive search.
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Lynchberg Project Lifesaver,
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Project Lifesaver International
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delivers exactly what it says.
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You know Project Lifesaver is just
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wonderful and it gives that extra peace
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of mind to the family members.
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I have made the statement that if it was
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just one person, that we were able to go
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out and bring home safely,
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this program would be worth it.
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I think a lot of people don't realize
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how big this problem is and if you don't
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think it's a big problem,
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pick up a newspaper,
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go on Facebook and look at all
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the searches for people that have
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wandered off
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and not been found.
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Listen. We've got NAFRA action reports
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Where it was plainly stated
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had not been for Project Lifesaver
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we would not have found this person.
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For different reasons.
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You know. I think it's, it's,
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it's simple.
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If we had a funding source
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we could do it for everybody.
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[THEATRICAL MUSIC]
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Female Officer - Dylan?
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Dylan - Yeah.
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Officer - Hi. I'm Sergeant Rodgers.
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Are you doing OK?
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Dylan - Yeah.
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Rodgers - So you're OK?
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Dylan - Yeah.
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Rodgers - You're Mamma's worried about you
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Did you wander away?
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Did you get a little bit lost?
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OK. Well we need to take you back
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to your mom's so she won't worry.
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OK? I'm glad you're OK
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[INAUDIABLE]
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[THEATRICAL MUSIC]
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- Roger. Subject located.
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[THEATRICAL MUSIC]