“The story doesn’t say where the ‘pilot’ was located. If he was flying FPV, and from the story it sounds like he certainly was otherwise there’s no way to know whether the “friend’s house you’re taking pictures of” is in the frame or not. So, without knowing the pilot’s location it’s pretty difficult to ask them to fly over different property.”
They weren’t that far away. After all, they showed up rather quickly after the drone crashed.
How does that help to locate them? Are you supposed to go traipsing around looking for them?
If you do not have permission to go on someone’s property, then don’t go there, whether in person or drone.
Modern radio systems have a 2-mile range, so that's a pretty big area to search.