Mum's message after son goes missing from after-school-care program

A three-year-old boy has been found after walking more than a kilometre from an after-school care in Western Australia without supervisors realising.

Police were called in to return the boy to his family thanks to the help of a bystander.

It was Cohen Rollinson's first day at the program run by private operator Camp Australia at Makybe Rise Primary School in Baldivis last Friday.

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Mother Ashlee Rollinson called to check up on her son before pickup and was shocked at the response.

"They said 'you've already picked him up' and I said 'no I haven't'," she said.

"I was so upset and angry, it's just all surreal."

By then the three-year-old somehow made his way to the nearby IGA supermarket, where he was noticed by a shopper named Justin.

"My only concern was to get Cohen back to his mother," he said.

The 43-year-old called police and kept the boy company as he tried to find his way back home - but he couldn't.

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The pair walked 1200 metres through the neighbourhood in 39-degree heat.

They eventually arrived at a nearby park and waited for police to arrive.

The mother-of-two is thankful for the bystander's actions.

"Anything could've happened - he could've been taken, we still might not have him right now ... it could've been so much worse," Rollinson said.

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The good Samaritan said the incident "really concerns me as a parent".

In a statement, Camp Australia admitted it had "failed ... and is truly sorry".

It said it was investigating the incident and had increased staff attendance on-site and upgraded site security.

Police were able to locate frantic family thanks to a name tag on Cohen's shirt.

The ordeal prompted the mother-of-two to warn other parents to label their children's clothes with a name and phone number.

"I don't want to hear this happening to anyone else again," Rollinson said.

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