The family of a boy who was lost for hours in a semi-rural neighborhood is thanking the Good Samaritan who found him.
Three-year-old Xavier Death went out alone to look for kangaroos in Angus, near Riverstone in Sydney’s northwest, on Monday afternoon.
Police launched an urgent investigation as there were serious concerns about his welfare given his young age.
Officers, with help from the community, searched for Xavier for more than three and a half hours before the missing toddler was found by a citizen in a wooded area 2km from where he disappeared.
Adam Goncalves heard screams before he saw Xavier in the dark with his flashlight in a field.
He rushed over to him and began warming him up as the temperature dropped below freezing.
Xavier was found with soaked clothes and his shoes on the wrong feet, along with a few scratches from climbing under barbed wire fences
“He was crying when I found him, but as soon as I got to him and asked his name, he stopped,” Mr Goncalves said. told 7News.
This is the moment Adam Goncalves found lost toddler Xavier Death crying by a creek in a meadow Monday night
CCTV shows Xavier running away from the family home in search of kangaroos
Mr Goncalves said that if he had not found Xavier, someone else would have.
But Xavier’s grandmother Maree Loveday disagreed.
“Nobody was looking there, only you,” she said to Mr. Goncalves.
Mrs Loveday and her grandson thanked Mr Goncalves for his help in ending the large-scale search in the community.
Xavier also visited the Riverstone police station, where he received a showbag and posed for a photo with officers involved in the search.
This comes after extraordinary footage emerged of the moment Xavier was reunited with his desperate family on Monday evening.
Xavier’s The emotional father had to hold back tears as he hugged his son tightly.
“I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who came out to help my little boy find his way home,” Mr Death told reporters.
“If it wasn’t for the community, we would have had to spend the whole night looking for him.”
“I also want to thank the man who found it. I don’t remember his name, but I appreciate him very much.”
When asked by reporters why he left the house alone, Xavier said he was looking for kangaroos before he got lost.
Xavier’s father said his son might never have been found if it hadn’t been for his helpful neighbors.
According to his father, the sun had already set during the search for Xavier, ‘long before they found him’, and the temperature in the area had dropped below three degrees.
Police launched an urgent investigation after discovering Xavier was missing. Considering his young age, there were serious concerns for his welfare.
Officers, with the help of the community, searched for him for more than three and a half hours
“Following a large-scale search and a geographic alert to the local area, the boy was found by a community member,” the statement said.
“The Riverstone Police Department would like to thank the community for their assistance.”
Riverstone Police thanked the community for their help in finding Xavier (pictured) safely