“Rubbish”: Family friend blasts missing boy conspiracy theories
With their three-year-old son returned to them three days after disappearing, the Elfalek family has called out those doubting their story.
“No one could understand what this is like, what happened and what we went through,” Alan Hashem, AJ’s godfather and the family’s neighbour, told 7NEWS.
“There’s nothing, people saying ‘crocodile tears, you guys aren’t showing emotion, the best friend is very suss with Anthony’s (AJ’s father’s) wife’. Like, just rubbish.”
Three-year-old Anthony ‘AJ’ Elfalek’s disappearance consumed the country over the weekend, after the non-verbal autistic toddler went missing on Friday.
After NSW Police deployed an extensive search around his family’s 650-acre property in Putty, in the NSW Hunter Valley.
At 11.30am on Monday, it was announced that the toddler had been found about 470 metres from his home in a creek bed by a rescue helicopter.
“Polair1 was flying over a ridge with a creek bed in it and they notice some movement. They were able to clearly identify a small boy in a puddle in a creek bed. That was the movement to alert Polair there was someone there,” Superintendent Tracy Chapman said.
There were emotional scenes on the property following the news, with family members and friends seen cheering and celebrating.
Image: Channel 9
Though the boy has been found, Ms Chapman said the police investigation surrounding his initial disappearance would continue.
“From a policing perspective we will still be continuing our inquiry to understand what has occurred over the past three days and how he came to be found after three days but certainly what occurred over the course of those three days,” she said.
AJ’s family said they would continue to search for answers too.
“We still need to find out what happened. We need answers. This is our little fortress. Did he leave? Who did he leave with? Did anything sinister happen?” Mr Hashem said, according to the ABC.
“You know, these questions that need to still be answered. You know, and we will not stop until we actually find the truth.”
AJ suffered minor scratches and nappy rash, but was otherwise determined to be in a healthy condition.
Image: Facebook