KEY POINTS:
For almost 24 hours 2-year-old Megan Patterson wandered around the thick bush that surrounds her home while dozens of people searched for her.
The toddler disappeared early on Saturday evening wearing nothing but a T-shirt and a nappy with teddy bear shapes on it.
The terrain surrounding her home on the Tapu-Coroglen road, north of Thames, is rugged and dotted with mine shafts hidden by bush growth which pig hunters say can be deadly.
"Those shafts are everywhere and they're dangerous as. I've lost dogs down there and never even heard them hit the bottom," said Hirini Skipper, a mate of Megan's dad and a local hauler driver.
But about 2.30pm yesterday there were ecstatic cheers and clapping among the search teams and locals.
Megan was found by a group of the 80 or so rescuers safe and well and standing on a track just 300m from home.
The little girl was reportedly "a bit cold" but in good spirits and enjoyed a bottle of hot milk and some quiche with her relieved mother and stepfather after being checked by paramedics.
A family spokeswoman, Beverley Pook-Sims, said it had been a very long night for the anxious parents, who were "absolutely over the moon" to have Megan back.
"The family have just been devastated with worry and stress ... But we must thank all the local people who have come out to help, all the search and rescue teams and fire brigades," she said.
Also there was Megan's father, Albert Shuker, who is separated from her mother but made the anxious trip down from Auckland yesterday morning after hearing the news on Saturday night.
Mr Shuker shed some quiet tears, while being comforted by locals, after hearing she had been found.
"It was a pretty scary time. Certainly you don't know exactly how to deal with it when things like this happen," he said.
"But it's a time of huge relief right now and a big thanks must be given to all those involved in the search for my daughter."
Mr Shuker said Megan was "quite the adventurous type", which probably led to her "little detour".
He said it was difficult pacing around the Tapu fire station when his natural impulse was to go and look for his daughter.
"The rescue guys knew what they were doing and they came up with the goods."
Police and search and rescue squads were brought in from throughout the Waikato, Waitomo, Coromandel and Auckland areas.
Sergeant Warren Shaw, who co-ordinated the effort, praised those who had lent their support over the weekend. "It's typical of search and rescue. Everyone's involved and this was just a total team effort."
