A boy who went missing from his family’s east Auckland home ended up being rescued from water by emergency services.
The incident began on a recent afternoon when the boy’s mother phoned police to say her six-year-old son, who has autism, was missing from their Pakuranga home.
A police spokesperson says the police’s Eagle helicopter quickly responded to begin search efforts in the area while officers were also sent to the family’s home.
“Within 10 minutes, Eagle located the boy up to his waist in the nearby estuary, nearly 30 metres from shore.
“Concerned he may wade out further and get into difficulty, the Eagle crew decided to land the helicopter and send a member out to retrieve the young boy.
“The crew member went into the water and picked the boy up and brought him back to shore.
“The boy was checked over and found to be uninjured.
“Our staff were very happy to safely return him to his extremely relieved mother.”