Thousands of social media messages of support have flooded the NSW Police Facebook page as concerns grow that a three-year-old boy missing in the Upper Hunter could have been abducted.
Police said they were pursuing all lines of inquiry, including a suspicious vehicle sighted by family, as a wide search for Anthony ‘AJ’ Elfalak ramps up.
Rain and cold temperatures made the search for Anthony even more difficult overnight as police, emergency crews, family and volunteers scoured the family’s 650-acre property at Putty, 150km northwest of Sydney, in the Upper Hunter.
Anthony, who is autistic and non-verbal, has been missing since Friday.
Just before 12.30pm on Friday, officers from Hunter Valley Police District responded to reports a child was missing at a rural property on Yengo Drive, Putty.
Anthony was last seen at a home on the property about 11.45am.
He is described as being of Mediterranean/Middle Eastern appearance, with short dark hair and believed to be wearing a grey jumper and pants, and sneakers.
The boy’s family said a white Toyota Hilux dual-cab ute was seen on a private road on the farm about the time AJ went missing.
“Police are absolutely looking into every angle possible in relation to AJ‘s disappearance,” Superintendent Tracy Chapman said in a media address on Saturday.
“We do have an investigation underway and are following up every lead.”
Anthony’s mother Kelly Elfalak was distraught.
“I just wanna find my son, I need to find AJ,” Ms Elfalak said on Saturday.
A co-ordinated multi-agency response continues on Sunday with assistance from trail bike officers, police rescue, the Dog Unit, police divers, and Polair.
Police are being assisted by NSW Ambulance, State Emergency Service (SES), Rural Fire Service (RFS), and the Volunteer Rescue Association (VRA).
A dam on the property was drained and searched.
A NSW Police post to Facebook has attracted thousands of messages of support for the family.
One user commented, “We have a non-verbal autistic son, my heart goes out to the family. Check around areas you know he‘d (visit). for example my son ran away once and got into someone’s car that was parked on their property … Or backyards where there’s play equipment like trampolines.”
Another user replied to police, “I pray for the family of AJ hoping that he is found safe and well”.