Snatched toddler found in Brisbane, man charged

A toddler taken from a home in Brisbane’s southwest early on Sunday morning has been found after a public appeal.

Police say the boy was snatched from a home in Brisbane's southwest.

A Queensland toddler snatched from his cot by a masked man in the dead of night while the rest of his family slept was missing for almost seven hours before being found.

The 20-month-old boy’s grandfather made the horrifying discovery that the child’s cot was empty at 5am Sunday, leading police to issue an emergency amber alert and to make an urgent appeal for public assistance.

CCTV cameras at the home in Darra, in Brisbane’s southwest, recorded a man wearing gloves and a surgical mask carrying the boy out of the home an hour earlier at 4am.

A 31-year-old man from neighbouring Salisbury was charged on Sunday evening with one count each of child stealing and enter dwelling with intent at night. Police have confirmed he was known to the family, but a spokesman said he was not a relative.

He will appear in Richlands Magistrates Court on Monday.

The toddler snatched from his cot on Sunday morning has been found alive. Picture: Supplied

The boy’s grandfather, who could not be named, told of finding the bedroom door open when it was normally closed.

“I noticed the bedroom door was open and I made the first initial discovery he wasn’t in his cot, so we were just trying to work out where he was in the house,” he said.

“After we had searched the house we knew there was something wrong and we were straight onto police.”

After calling police, the grandfather found alarming CCTV footage of the intruder carrying the child through the backyard.

The man had climbed over a side wooden fence to get into the Warrender Street property. The grandfather did not know who the intruder was or why the boy was taken.

“There’s no way of ourselves being able to identify him,” he said. “I am still shaking at the fact that knowing a total stranger can be in the house with all the kids asleep and my partner asleep.

“Everyone was asleep and didn’t hear anything. He was asleep. He was taken out of his cot.”

Video footage showed the solidly built intruder wearing distinctive running shoes, long pants, a long-sleeved shirt, gloves, baseball cap and medical mask.

The boy was described as having brown hair and fair skin, and was last seen wearing a black shirt and a nappy.

He was found 8km from his home, in Salisbury, just before 11am. Extended family gathered at the house after the abduction and were together inside when police said the boy was safe.

“It was like fireworks going off,” his grandfather said.

“Everyone was just really happy. We were all just jumping and cheering that they had found him. The police service did such an awesome job and quick.”