An intense search for a lost two-year-old autistic boy has ended with the police in Michigan using a helicopter with thermal imaging to locate the toddler after he wandered off into the woods.

The 31-year-old father called the police after his two-year-old son went missing when he fell asleep at the family home in Lapeer County in the US state of Michigan yesterday (1st June).

The father said he woke up and noticed the front door was open while the family dog, that follows the little boy everywhere, was soaking wet.

Local news site Abc 12 said the dog’s paw prints led to a nearby pond which a Lapeer County Dive Team began searching.

A K-9 unit from Lapeer County Sheriff’s Office, working alongside Michigan State Police, headed into the nearby woods to try and track the missing toddler.

Later on in the evening around 11:50 pm, a police helicopter joined the search using thermal imaging to search the woods.

The footage shows the helicopter team scanning the woods looking for the boy’s heat signature.

They eventually find a small “hot spot” under a tree and guide the cops on the ground to its location.

The cops make it to the tree and confirm that it’s the missing boy, who is reportedly autistic, at which point the officer says: “We’ve got him and he’s all right.”

Local media said the boy was unharmed and the police are investigating the incident along with child protection services.