Minnesota boy, 6, found safe

BECKER (AP) — A 6-year-old boy missing in Minnesota was found safe early Wednesday after a search by hundreds of volunteers and the use of a drone with a thermal camera that helped locate the child in a dark cornfield.

The boy, named Ethan, hadn’t been seen since 4:10 p.m. Tuesday when he got off a school bus with his siblings near Highway 25 in Becker and ran to play with the family dog, according to the Sherburne County Sheriff’s Office. Becker is located about 45 miles northwest of Minneapolis.

The sheriff’s office said on its Facebook page that Ethan was found safe with his dog about 1:50 a.m. on Wednesday, about 1.5 miles from his home. He was brought to a hospital to be checked and was cold but otherwise OK, authorities said. Temperatures in the area were in the low 40s overnight Tuesday.

One of the more than 600 volunteers who helped search for the boy brought his drone with thermal imaging. The device targeted Ethan and the dog in the cornfield that had already been searched, sheriff’s officials said.

“If not for that drone, I’m not sure we would have found him,” Sherburne County Sheriff Joel Brott said.

WCCO-TV reports the drone pilot, Steve Fines, said that he’d never used a drone in a search operation before.

“It was a moment that was going to make his parents so happy, and vicariously we all felt that,” Fines said.

State reports 2 more vaping deaths

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota health officials are reporting the state’s second and third deaths due to lung illnesses caused by vaping.

The Department of Health said Wednesday both deaths involved people over age 50 who died in September after complicated hospitalizations. One had vaped several products including THC, the compound that gives marijuana its high.

The other patient had vaped unknown products in addition to nicotine.

Minnesota has 73 people with confirmed or probable cases of lung illness due to vaping, and almost all had frequently vaped illegal cannabis products. Health officials have warned against vaping the products, which can be counterfeit.

The Centers for Disease Control said earlier this week at least 26 people have died nationally from vaping-related illnesses, and it’s warned against any use of vaping products.