KEY POINTS:
A 14-year-old boy who went missing in the Rimutaka Forest Park walked out of the bush this morning, tired and hungry but otherwise unharmed.
Wayde Carson, who went missing about 2pm yesterday, spent the night in the bush, sleeping in a nest of ferns.
He found his way out of the area of regenerating native bush near Wainuiomata about 8am.
Sergeant Jo Holden, of Wellington Metro Search and Rescue, said aside from a small cut on his hand, the boy was fine.
Wayde was walking in the bush with a friend when the two became separated.
They unsuccessfully tried to find each other, before the friend got out of the bush to find help.
Friends and family searched for the boy until 5pm, when they called Search and Rescue.
The search teams spent the night in the bush, anticipating beginning their hunt at first light.
Wayde heard people calling his name and the helicopter overhead last night, but they were too far away and he had no way of contacting them, Ms Holden said.
- NZPA
