Italian journalist reporting on missing toddler finds the boy

A missing Italian toddler wasn't found by one of the 1,000 police officers, alpine rescuers, firefighters, and volunteers searching for him — he was discovered by a journalist sent to report on the case.

The 21-month-old boy was last seen by his parents on Monday night, and on Wednesday, reporter Giuseppe di Tommaso with the Italian state broadcaster Rai went to interview them. They live in an isolated area of Palazzuolo sul Senio, near Florence, and Di Tommaso had to walk up a long dirt road to get to their house. Along the way, Di Tommaso heard a strange noise coming from a ravine, and called out.

He heard a child reply "Mamma," and could see through the brush that there was a small boy in the ravine. Di Tommaso flagged down a police car for help, and a commander went down to investigate. It was the missing boy, with a few scratches and a bump on his head. The commander said during a press conference that it was "a tremendous joy to bring him back to his mother's arms." The boy was found a little over a mile from his home, and police believe he woke up on Monday in the middle of the night and let himself out of the house.

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