A new technology is being trialed in Colorado that can help teams find missing parties in the backcountry in less than three minutes. The Lifeseeker was developed by Spanish research and technology company Centum and is a location system that acts like a small cellphone tower, attaching to the outside of a helicopter. The device turns the cellphones of missing backcountry users into that can quickly guide mountain teams to the exact location of the missing person.
According to a report in the , the device is currently being tested for use by rescue crews in La Plata Canyon, northwest of Durango. In their trials, rescuers were able to locate two test subjects within two minutes and 14 seconds. The densely forested, rugged canyon is framed by high peaks and several trail runners have gone missing there in recent years, including in 2022, and more recently Ian O'Brien in 2023.
In all three cases, the search efforts were called off after several weeks of combing through difficult terrain with no sightings, but it's hoped that the Lifeseeker could shave valuable time off these searches and help bring hikers and runners home. The device still needs a clear view of the terrain being searched and no interference, but in the right conditions, rescue teams could pick up the signal of a cellphone within 20 miles, though it operates best within a five mile radius. It then zooms in on the signal until team can pinpoint exactly where the missing person is, and either land the helicopter or.
