A 3-year-old boy was found safe in a wooded area near his home Wednesday night after being missing several hours.

The parents of Luke Dillard Jr., 179 Knox Mountain Road, called 911 for help around 5:30 p.m. after they were unable to find the boy.

Roy Anderson, chief of the Polk County Fire Department, said the boy had been playing with his dog, with the mother nearby, and "all at once he was gone and they could not find him."

A large group of searchers descended on the scene to help look. Fire personnel, the Emergency Management Agency, Polk County Police, Polk County Sheriff's Department, Georgia State Patrol and volunteers came out to search the woods.

Searchers refrained from entering the woods near the home initially because they were waiting for the GSP to complete its helicopter search, using infrared sensors.

The helicopter search turned up a few "hot spots," but these were checked out and turned out to be false leads.

They then sent in dog teams.

Anderson said the boy was actually located in those same woods by Tracy Sargent, a dog handler working with Georgia Emergency Management Agency.

From the time the dogs went in, until the child was found, was only 32 minutes, other officials reported.

Anderson said when found, the child was asleep and covered in leaves. He was unharmed.

The child was found at 10:18, Polk County Police reported.

The search was concluded at 10:30 p.m.

(Note: Story edited at 1:30 p.m. with additional information -- time element corrected from earlier report).