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The "Acompáñame" system, integrated into the Alertcops mobile application of the Ministry of the Interior, uses Wi-Fi signals to obtain the coordinates of missing persons who may be at risk.

El Heraldo · 10/26/2023

A hundred personnel are searching for a missing elderly man in Madrid's Casa de Campo, but technology is the first to locate him. The "Acompáñame" system, integrated into the mobile application of the Ministry of the Interior Alertcops, uses Wi-Fi signals to obtain the coordinates of missing persons who may be at risk.

This pioneering system in the world, which the Interior Ministry tested in a missing persons search drill on Thursday, aims to make interventions faster and more effective, especially in complex terrains.

"It's about digitizing the more traditional search, which relies on visual cues and the scent of search and rescue dogs. Providing search and rescue teams with coordinates with such a small margin of error saves time and allows for quicker intervention, as time is of the essence in these services," explained Francisco Alonso, the head of Alertcops, in a statement to EFE.

The scenario for the drill is clear: a man over 70 years old with cognitive impairments has become disoriented during one of his routine walks in Casa de Campo. When he doesn't return home, his daughter files a missing persons report.

Immediately, under the premise that "the first hours are the crucial hours," authorities activate the search operation.

Officers from the Civil Guard, National Police, and Municipal Police of Madrid conduct searches on foot, on horseback, in vehicles, with drones, and search and rescue dogs. After about an hour, an alert pops up on the computers at the advanced control center.

One of the receiving devices carried by the agents, the dogs, or the drones picks up the Wi-Fi signal emitted by the missing person's phone, allowing them to pinpoint his coordinates with an error margin of about three meters.

Within minutes, the helicopter from the Mountain Rescue and Intervention Group (GREIM) in Navacerrada has successfully evacuated the presumed elderly man, who, in reality, was one of his companions, to the location where an ambulance from SAMUR-Civil Protection awaits to provide assistance.

The "Acompáñame" system is particularly useful for search and rescue operations in mountainous areas, which often involve extensive terrains and difficult-to-reach locations.

"What limits us the most is the terrain, and that impacts the time. If we can search in a smaller area, that's better, especially to reach the missing person and assist them as quickly as possible," noted Juan Manuel Airas, one of the GREIM members who participated in the drill. He recalled searches that lasted for weeks, which this tool might have been able to shorten.

Alonso, who has assessed the trial of "Acompáñame" positively despite some coverage issues, hopes to have it implemented and available to the general public before the year ends.

Under International Scrutiny

The drill is part of a best practices seminar on the search for missing persons organized by the National Center for Missing Persons (CNDES) on the occasion of Spain's presidency of the Council of the European Union.

Nearly 70 specialists from law enforcement agencies in the United States, Chile, Peru, Italy, France, and the Netherlands have participated.

The director of CNDES, Lieutenant Colonel Pilar Muniesa of the Civil Guard, emphasized that the drill is a "completely unrealistic" exercise due to the location of the disappearance and the search conditions. Its purpose is to showcase to international counterparts "the capabilities and coordination of Spanish law enforcement agencies" in such situations.

Since the establishment of the center in 2010, Spain has received 270,093 missing persons reports, with a resolution rate of 94.7%. Just last year, there were 26,003 cases.

Muniesa stated that CNDES is focused on reducing the number of disappearances among the most vulnerable groups: minors aged 13 to 17 and elderly individuals with degenerative or mental health conditions.