Missing toddler AJ found alive on day four of search in Hunter

A toddler who has been missing in the New South Wales Hunter Region for four days has been found alive, with family celebrating in emotional scenes on their rural property.

Police said three-year-old Anthony "AJ" Elfalak was located shortly before 12pm, several kilometres from his home in Putty.

PolAir spotted AJ in a creek bed, drinking water from it.

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"They were able to clearly identify a small boy in a puddle in a creek bed," Commander of the Hunter Valley Police District Tracy Chapman said.

The SES searcher was "able to walk all the way to him and put his hand on his shoulder", Hunter Region SES Commander Chief Inspector Simon Merrick said. "And he has stated that he turned towards him with a massive smile on his face that he will not forget"

That rescuer found AJ still kneeling in the riverbed.

"They put a hand on his shoulder and comforted him, he went on our rescuer's knee and a big smile towards him as well and they embraced at that moment."

Ms Chapman said the fact he was drinking from the creek helped him survive.

"I think so close to water is potentially what gave him that opportunity to survive," she said.

"Certainly, experts that we've consulted, if he had access to water, it was always going to be able to survive the longest period of time with dehydration being the issue so he obviously found some water and was able to access that, was clearly drinking it.

"It is obviously something which assisted in him surviving."

Special Operations Team Paramedic Gerry Pyke from NSW Ambulance said it was "remarkable" AJ was in such good health.

"It was evident that he is a little survivor. By the time I got to him, the SES had done a wonderful job in winning over his spirits," Mr Pyke said.

"He had some lacerations on his lower legs. He was very, very thankful. His temperature was great.

"He did have a bit of a nappy rash."

Police will continue to investigate the circumstances of the past few days.

The family released a statement thanking police, emergency services, and the public for their help.

"Our family is together again. For that we are grateful to everyone who has assisted in any way over the last three days," the statement reads.

"Thank you to the NSW Police, Rescue Services, volunteers, community members, friends and family who have worked tirelessly to find AJ.

"AJ is fine. Hold your kids close.

"Please give our family the privacy to appreciate what we have."

'A miracle': Toddler's dad

AJ's father and namesake Anthony said the boy's survival was "a miracle".

He said AJ had suffered nappy rash, scrapes from falls, and had been bitten by ants. He is now being taken to hospital with his mother Kelly.

"I was stoked," Mr Elfalak said of the moment he found out his son was alive.

"It saved my wife from going insane, pretty much, I think.

"He's alive. It's amazing."

Mr Elfalak spent four days searching in the bush "without sleep" in an effort to find his son.

He said the three-year-old lit up when he heard his mother's voice. He clung to her and fell asleep in her arms.

AJ was spotted by a helicopter near a creek bank and rescued then by SES volunteers.

Mr Elfalak said AJ had been drinking water in the creek.

Family friend and godfather Alan Hashem told 9News the family was overjoyed.

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"I haven't slept for three days. I haven't slept," Mr Hashem said.

"I would jump all over you guys and hug and kiss you but I will keep my distance."

AJ has since been reunited with his parents and brothers, while he is being assessed by paramedics at the search command post.

Images from the home showed the boy's loved ones celebrating and crying as they received the news.

AJ's brother Patrick told 9News he hadn't given up hope.

"At first I thought we wouldn't find him but I knew the helicopters would find him because the helicopters are very high up, they can see anything," he said.

A relative told 9News AJ appeared to be "good" and "looked fine".

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

Temperatures in the area had dropped to as low as 3C early this morning, while there has also been rain in recent days.

Police had earlier seized a white ute and checked an abandoned property nearby, with the family fearing he might have been kidnapped.

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Mr Hashem earlier told Today that AJ's older brothers were looking after him, and that the three-year-old vanished when one had to go to the bathroom.

"We thought, if AJ's gone somewhere, it's not going to be far," he said.

He said the family took four ATVs and covered thousands of square metres in a frantic search.

Mr Hashem also claimed CCTV cameras he had installed on the property had footage missing of the time that AJ disappeared.

"We installed it so high you can't tamper with it and we had two mechanisms of storage, cloud storage and physical storage, and there's no data in that time slot," he said. 

"We provided the user name and password to the police, we provided them the actual original memory card."

Mr Hashem said the family were the "loveliest people" and had suffered greatly during the ordeal, as the search entered its fourth day this morning.

"You don't understand how much pain and anguish this family's feeling," he said.

"The reason why I am the spokesperson is because the mother is not coping and the father, he's holding it together by a thread."

Mr Hashem thanked the police searchers and SES volunteers for their "absolutely phenomenal" response to the emergency.