A young autistic boy who went missing on Friday afternoon was found safe by police near a river in Glendene, west Auckland, New Zealand.
His mother reported him missing about 12:30 p.m. after he disappeared from their home. A neighbor had seen the boy walking toward an area of bush that leads to an estuary.
Given the approaching high tide, police quickly launched an air and ground search. The police helicopter unit, Eagle, was overhead searching the water.
"Time became critical, given high tide was coming in a few hours, so we had Eagle (the police helicopter unit) overhead searching the water," Acting Inspector Nick Salter of Waitematā West Police said.
Air searchers were able to direct a ground crew to the boy's location, where he had fallen in the mangroves. Officers found him wet and muddy but unharmed and not requiring medical attention.
"Staff made their way through the mangroves to the boy. He was wet and muddy but fortunately he was safe and not in need of medical assistance," Insp Salter stated. "Anyone who has kids will know how terrifying this would have been, and we are fortunate that this could be safely resolved so quickly."
Officers assisted the boy to his feet and carried him out of the water. "It's a great result by all our staff who responded on Friday," Insp Salter added.
