Family share their relief after missing son AJ is found

There have been heartwarming scenes in the NSW Hunter Region today, as a mother was reunited with her young son after he spent four days missing on his family's property.

Three-year-old Anthony "AJ" Elfalak, who is on the autism spectrum and is non-verbal, went missing last week from his family's rural property at Putty.

"They found my baby, oh they found my baby," his mother said today, as her boy was placed into her arms.

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SES crew who were searching for AJ, ran up to the young boy after PolAir spotted him from the sky while he was sitting in a muddy creek, lapping up water.

"There are not words to describe that moment," an SES volunteer said.

The rest of the exhausted search party, which included family and friends, then ran through the bush to the secluded creek bed where the three-year-old was found after they heard the call on the radio.

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AJ's dad Anthony and his brothers Michael and Patrick couldn't wipe the smiles from their faces once they discovered the good news.

"We prayed this morning and my wife just came back from the monastery and prayed and look what happened," Mr Elfalak said.

"It's a miracle. He has got some nappy rash, he has been bitten by ants, he has fallen over, but he's alive."

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AJ is now in hospital being checked over by doctors.

Like many, his family have a lot of questions about where AJ has been and how he survived. There were concerns he may have been abducted.

"It's the only thing I could think of, because he's always here with us. He loves his swing, he loves going … with his brothers, and I just thought that's the only answer I had," Mr Elfalak said.

The relieved father said after four days he was worried everyone was going to give up on the search. 

"I was going to call 5000 people from Sydney to come up, I don't care about the COVID, and then she (an SES volunteer) said, we would never give up on a little boy, that's what I loved to hear, and they didn't give up," he said.

"I don't know how he survived, I thought I was getting a phone call that he passed away, he's a strong little boy … he was trying to drink from the river. He's just so strong.

"We just thought keep going, and look what happened, we got him back in one piece."