Another child with autism feared abducted

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Missing boy Anthony ‘AJ’ Elfalak has been found alive after a desperate three-day search, NSW Police have confirmed.

Anthony, or ‘AJ’, who is autistic and non-verbal, had last been seen at about 11.45am on Friday.

A widespread search of the family’s 650-acre property at Putty had lasted for almost 72 hours and included police, emergency services and volunteers when the miraculous discovery was made.

The search also extended into other areas of the Upper Hunter.

“Missing three-year-old boy Anthony ‘AJ’ Elfalak has been located a short time ago. He is yet to be assessed by NSW Ambulance paramedics. More info to come,” NSW Police posted to Twitter.

It is understood AJ was found by a rescue helicopter at a creek within the property, several kilometres from the family home.

Bush survival experts say AJ Elfalak, who survived in rugged bushland surrounding his family’s home for three nights, may have been kept calm and ultimately alive by his autism.

AJ disappeared on Friday morning and a frantic search by police, SES, volunteers and family turned up no sign of him for 72 hours.

He was rescued in dramatic fashion about 11.30am on Monday after a police helicopter sighted the boy, who is autistic and non-verbal, drinking water from a creek several hundred metres from his family’s home.

Conspiracy theories circulated on social media that his disappearance was staged, and that a young boy could not survive alone with food or water in such inhospitable terrain – where overnight temperatures were as low as 2C.

However, detectives investigating the circumstances of the toddler’s disappearance – said AJ’s injuries and condition when he was found were all consistent with him being in the bush the entire time.

And, bush survival experts aiding the investigation say his autism may have actually helped him maintain a calm state of mind.

“The reality is he didn’t know he was lost, so he wasn’t scared, he didn’t panic,” an investigator told the Daily Mail Australia.

“If he was tired, he slept … he had access to water, which is a big thing for survival in the bush.”

When AJ was rescued, paramedics said he ravenously ate an entire pizza and guzzled water – which is indicative of someone who hadn’t eaten for days.

“He was starving … it’s all consistent with him being in the bush the entire time,” a paramedic said.

Four days is a long time for a 3 year old to be by himself, regardless of the temperature, very good news.

A wombat hole and soft lines in the sand may hold the key to unlocking one of the biggest Australian mysteries of the year.

Anthony AJ Elfalak, three, vanished without a trace shortly after 11am last Friday.

Media coverage exploded as a search commenced. Hundreds of people, including police from Polair, the dog squad, divers and the mounted unit, as well as SES, Rural Fire Service and Volunteer Rescue Association personnel scoured bushland to find AJ.

Almost exactly 72 hours later, he was found. But the question remains – what happened in those three days between AJ, who is autistic and non-verbal, disappearing from his family’s home at Putty, NSW and being discovered in a creek in bushland only 200m away?

Many theories were floated at the time, each one more shocking than the last.

Family friends had told national TV networks they feared the worst; AJ had “definitely” been abducted.

A “suspicious” ute was seized by police almost 80km from the Elfalak’s 650-acre Singleton Shire property.

CCTV footage from around the time of AJ’s disappearance had also “disappeared”.

But the professional bush tracker who answered the siren call to join AJ’s search party has another theory: AJ survived those three days in the bush without food, and in freezing cold rain, by hiding in either a wombat hole or a cave close to where emergency services discovered him on Monday – shivering, cold and drinking muddy creek water.

Jake Cassar, a 45-year-old survival expert from the NSW Central Coast who was also part of the 2014 search for missing child William Tyrrell, offers an extraordinary account of the 72 hours it took to track down AJ.

The family of young Anthony “AJ” Elfalak, who was found alive after being lost in bushland for three days, believe a blurry image taken from a police helicopter proves he was being cared for by the Virgin Mary.

AJ, who has autism and is non-verbal, was missing in an extremely rugged part of the NSW Hunter Valley before crew on a helicopter spotted him drinking muddy water at a creek on September 6.

His mother Kelly said she firmly believed saints, angels and the Virgin Mary played a role in keeping the boy safe.

“We’re a religious family ... I always say that the Virgin Mary and all the saints and the angels are with my kids every day,” she recently said in a social media video.

“The Virgin Mary is always with us and I knew she was always with AJ.

“If you saw the picture of AJ in the creek, you can actually see the Virgin Mary next to him.”