Young boy slept under a bridge after becoming lost during a bushwalk

A young boy who went missing from his northern NSW home yesterday slept under a bridge overnight with his dog to stay warm after he became lost in bushland.

Luca Zonno, 12, left his home in Kariong, near Gosford, around midday yesterday. His mother alerted the police around 5pm when he did not return.

An extensive air and ground search using a NSW Ambulance helicopter, the dog squad and officers from Brisbane Water Local Area Command failed to find the boy yesterday.

He was spotted around 7.30am this morning by a local and returned home.

“I went for a bushwalk and got lost,” he said as he walked into his home with his dog, Purdy, by his side.

Police said Luca had gone for a bushwalk, something he does regularly, when he walked down a track in a nearby reserve and became lost when darkness fell.

The young boy tried to get the attention of the chopper overhead, however he eventually settled under a bridge for the night, with his dog by his side to keep him warm, and when dawn broke he walked to the nearest road.

He then met his rescuer, known only as Alan, who recognised him from news reports.

“I asked him whether he’d been out or not, and he said yes, so I just offered to bring him home and that was it,” Alan said.

"We’ve found him, so we’re just so thankful, thank you God, we’ve been praying,” the boy’s grandmother Annette said.