The disappearance of Anthony 'AJ' Elfalak had haunting similarities with the suspected abduction of toddler William Tyrrell almost seven years ago to the day.
'AJ', 3, vanished in the blink of an eye three days ago from his family's rural property near Putty, 150km from Sydney on Friday, September 3 before he was found on Monday.
A huge search had failed to find any trace of him but police impounded a neighbour's ute and sealed off a nearby shed as they desperately looked for clues.
Police confirmed on Monday morning tht he had been found and was being assessed by paramedics. No further details are available yet.
The case had striking parallels with little William Tyrell, 3, who disappeared from a front yard in Kendall, northern NSW, on September 12, 2012.
The disappearance of Anthony 'AJ' Elfalak (pictured) has haunting similarities with the suspected abduction of toddler William Tyrrell almost seven years ago to the day
MISSING TODDLERS
The similarities begin with the age of the two young boys - both were three years old when they vanished without a trace.
William, last seen wearing a Spiderman outfit, came from a troubled background and lived with foster parents.
On the day he disappeared, his foster parents were visiting relatives in Kendall and William was last seen playing in the garden at the front of his grandmother's home.
Suddenly though, the adults realised he had gone quiet, and when they investigated they discovered he had disappeared.
They desperately searched the local area for 15 minutes before raising the alarm with police.
Last Friday, a similar heartbreaking scene played out at the rural home of little Anthony Elfalak, known as AJ, who is also 3.
The toddler is autistic and non-verbal but had been playing with his three brothers - Michael, Patrick and Alexander - while his mother, Kelly, prepared lunch and his father, Anthony, serviced the family's quad bikes.
When the oldest brother went to the toilet, he took AJ with him and left the youngster near the porch in the dining area - but when he came out, AJ was gone.
'The boys had a puzzled look on their face,' family friend Alan Hashem revealed on Monday. He was at the home at the time helping prepare lunch when AJ vanished.
'We had these ATVs, we had about four of them and we thought if AJ's gone somewhere it's not going to be far.'
Both children disappeared in broad daylight, with William vanishing around 10.30am and AJ around midday.
The toddler is autistic and non-verbal but had been playing with his three brothers - Michael, Patrick and Alexander - while his mother, Kelly, prepared lunch and his father, Anthony, serviced the family's quad bikes. AJ's parents are seen here with three of their sons
REMOTE BUSHLAND
Curiously, both boys vanished from homes backing onto or surrounded by remote bushland.
AJ's family live in a remote property in a forest 150km north-west of Sydney, midway between the Blue Mountains and the Hunter Valley region.
Unusually, despite the lonely rural location, the family had a CCTV camera overseeing the property, but footage from the crucial time around AJ's disappearance is said to be missing.
The family swooped into action within minutes of realising the youngster had gone and swept the area on their quad bikes without success.
Police and emergency services launched a massive manhunt across the area around the home once the alarm was raised, but the tricky terrain, thick bush and wet conditions made the search difficult.
Police divers scoured a nearby muddy dam looking for any sign of the youngster until an excavator dug out the wall of the dam to drain it but it still proved fruitless.
AJ's family live in a remote property in a forest 150km north-west of Sydney between the Blue Mountains and the Hunter region. Seen here is the neighbouring shed sealed off by police as a possible crime scene
