‘Tugs at our heartstrings’: Disabled boy found after frantic two-day search

Search efforts have paid off for a missing 12-year-old boy living with autism and Down syndrome, after a frantic two-day search.

A missing 12-year-old boy has miraculously been found in a medical centre stairwell 50 hours after vanishing in Sydney’s southwest.

Hussein Al Mansoory, who is autistic and has Down syndrome, was last seen running from Auburn Memorial Park at 10.30am on Saturday wearing just a t-shirt and nappy without shoes.

He was then spotted near Norval Street in Auburn around 9pm.

Police said they were “highly concerned” and held serious concerns for Hussein’s welfare.

But elation struck Sydney’s west today as the boy was found “safe and well” in Auburn at 12.40pm. He is receiving medical care at Queen Street Medical Centre.

Superintendent Simon Glasser, Commander Auburn Police Area Command, was all smiles as he fronted press on Monday afternoon.

He said it was a “great” result given the lengthy period Hussein had been missing, revealing the boy was discovered by staff in a stairwell of a local medical centre.

Hussein Al Mansoory, a 12-year-old boy with autism and Down syndrome, went missing in Sydney’s southwest on Saturday morning.

“He was found well. He smiled. He was sitting up. He’s been taken to hospital just for a check-up,” he said.

“Hundreds of members of the public assisted in the search - I would like to thank everyone but it’s a great result.”

It’s not known how the youngster made it into the stairwell, or whether it was locked.

Superintendent Glasser said Hussein’s parents “rushed to the scene” upon hearing the news.

“They were ecstatic and attended the scene straight away,” he said.

Hussein was found “relatively close” to where he was last sighted, Superintendent Glasser added.

Hussein’s disappearance sparked a widespread search operation, with Auburn Police Area Command, NSW State Emergency Service, officers from the Public Order and Riot Squad, PolAir and the Rescue and Bomb Disposal Unit all involved in locating the youngster.

Music was even played through the speakers of a police aircraft in hopes of luring Hussein out of hiding, while drones were also canvassed search areas.

Inspector Mark Wakeham, addressing a press conference on Sunday afternoon, appealed to the community for further assistance.

“The family, as you can appreciate, is distraught,” he said.

“We are asking members of the community to keep a lookout.”

“We believe he’s quite scared, he may walk away from members of the community if approached.”

He was last seen running from Auburn Memorial Park towards the intersection of Station Road and Rawson Street in Auburn at around 10.30am. Picture: Damian Shaw

Local residents fervently joined the search efforts, stating the situation “tugs at our heartstrings”.

One resident shared on social media: “We’ve just returned home from searching and I have to say what a community we live in, almost every 4WD and cars were visiting all possible areas Hussein was sighted.”

Despite extensive search efforts, including a joint air and land search operation by the New South Wales Police and State Emergency Service (SES), he is still missing. Picture: NSW Police

Local residents have joined the search efforts and some have reported searching through Sunday night. Picture: NSW Police

Concerns are growing over Hussein’s safety as he is non-verbal and the temperature is above 30 degrees Celsius. Picture: 9News

“Everyone in the area needs to get outside and help find this precious young soul,” echoed another concerned resident.

Locals persisted in their search through Sunday night, with some reporting they were driving around until the early hours of Monday morning.