'Easter miracle' - Lost boy tries to ride roo home

A father who was reunited with his three-year-old son after he went missing for 18 hours in bushland in the NSW central west says it's an "Easter miracle" his son was found.

James Skillen was last seen at about 5pm on Saturday at a campsite with his family on a property on Old Ilford Road, Razorback, about 69km south of Mudgee.

A large-scale search group including police, sniffer dogs, NSW Ambulance, the Rural Fire Service, SES, the NSW Volunteer Rescue Association and locals had spent Saturday night and Sunday morning searching the rugged terrain and farmland which included several dams.

Members of the public from the small nearby town of Sofala had joined the search and found the boy safe and well wandering along a 4WD bush track just before midday on Sunday.

He was found five kilometres from where he had last been seen.

James' father, Peter Skillen, thanked members of public and emergency services, saying his son was very chirpy after the chopper ride.

"It's an Easter miracle, it's just amazing and we just can't thank the emergency services so much for everything they've done," Mr Skillen told reporters at the scene.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Peter Skillen told reporters ''his son 'says he tried to jump on a kangaroo this morning because he thought the kangaroo might take him home'."

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