The boy, who will soon be three years old, was found just after 1 a.m. Monday. He had been missing for over twelve hours.
He was found outside in the forest, wet and cold but awake and talkative. Home Guard soldier Anders Evensson had been out looking for the boy for nine hours when he and a colleague heard a noise in the forest, he tells Aftonbladet.
"When we walked toward the sound, we saw this little guy sitting in the forest all by himself. For me, all the emotions came at once," he tells the newspaper.
“Like a koala”
The boy immediately started talking about his mother and father and, despite his long walk in the forest, was safe and sound.
"I picked him up in my arms. He clung to me like a little koala, a bear. It was very special."
The boy disappeared from a home where he was with his family. His grandparents tell Expressen that he disappeared after playing with a tape measure in the yard - while the family thought he was indoors.
“So relieved”
Hundreds of people participated in the search for the two-year-old who was found near the house, about a 20-minute walk away. All properties in the vicinity were searched in the operation, which also involved the Armed Forces, Missing People, mountain rescuers and the emergency services.
"We want to thank everyone, we are so relieved," the boy's grandmother tells Expressen.
His grandfather tells Expressen that the boy asked for porridge and was examined by a doctor and that he was not hurt and that everything looks good.
"There is no ongoing criminal investigation connected to the disappearance," the police write on their website.
