Absolutely true. When I was doing SAR (many moons ago), one of our number was a professor in the mathematics department at the U of Arizona. His expertise came in handy on many occasions. When I left town, we were just beginning to bring portable computers to base camp.

Back then, we used early versions of the algorithms mentioned in the article to very good effect in working more effectively to shorten the search effort.

I did grin when I read "the new software takes into account the nature of the landscape." In our home terrain, we realized very soon that some of our mountainous terrain absolutely determines travel routes for lost individuals. Their movements (and, to a large extent, ours as well) were controlled by the mountain canyons as surely as an aqueduct delivers water.

Over time, it was rather fascinating to see how patterns in how, when and where people got lost and into trouble developed.