Little Alan Baxter appears to have slept his way through a three-hour ordeal during which 40 police cars searched for the 3-year-old.
Alan's father's car was stolen in Lower Hutt on Friday night - complete with the boy asleep in his Winnie the Pooh car seat.
Shane Baxter
was picking up a friend from a Hutt Rd house about 7.30pm. He left Alan sleeping in the car seat and was away for only a couple of minutes when he heard the car being driven away.
"Everything was happening at once. There were thoughts of anger and panic. It was all such a blur... it was chaos."
While Shane and his friend searched surrounding streets for the Subaru, police issued an all-points bulletin and at one stage 40 police cars were involved.
A resident in nearby Stanford Grove, Naenae, spotted the car on the side of the road about 10.45pm. Police found Alan in the car seat.
Back with his father and mother Dawn yesterday, he appears to have been oblivious to the saga. All he remembers is his dad putting him in his friend's car after he was found.
"He can't remember anything else," said Shane. "The police told us he was asleep when they turned up. So I'm hoping he doesn't remember."
The thief, who has not been found, took some personal belongings from the car. "It's a small price to pay because as long as we had Alan back - that's all that mattered.
"We want to thank the police for bringing back my son and car and also friends and family that helped with the search."
