The Erie Police Department’s cold case unit is using a high-tech drone to help investigate and unsolved case that is 43-years-old.
Back in February of 1983, 16-year-old Bryan Fisher was believed to have been heading to Erie’s bayfront to go fishing.
However, more than four decades later, he’s never been seen again.
“He disappeared in February of 1983,” said Erie Police Lt. Craig Stoker. “He lived just a few blocks from here. There used to be a grain elevator the kids used to play on and then he liked fishing down through this whole area on the bayfront.”
Earl Bakke is a member of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
He’s using a drone to conduct what’s known as a LiDAR scan of Presque Isle Bay.
“LiDAR is the process of using laser beams to build an exact digital replica of the ground.” said Bakke.
According to Bakke, the drone will collect data and search for anomalies that can help the cold case unit with its investigation.
Erie investigators can then use that data to establish a ground team to investigate those anomalies along the bayfront.
“It’s like have an Excel spreadsheet except there is going to be like 300 million rows of data,” said Bakke. “The ability to manipulate that data into different things is what’s going to possibly give us some anomalies and things to look at further.”
It’s part of an ongoing effort to bring closure to Fisher’s family.
“We’re looking forward to it,” said Lt. Stoker. “I’m really excited to see how this works and how this can help us.”