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Missing 5-Year-Old Boy From Queens Found Safe More Than A Mile From Home

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A 5-year-old boy from Queens who had been missing for several hours was found Thursday morning more than a mile away from his home.

Zackary Nazario was found safe and sound after disappearing from his house on Rockaway Boulevard in the middle of the night, CBS 2's Kathryn Brown reported.

The child's 23-year-old brother was babysitting overnight while their mother was at work and left the house for some reason, according to police. When he returned, Zackary was gone.

Police launched an intense search, combing the neighborhood and interviewing anyone who may have seen the 5-year-old, including Melvin Gobadan, who said he saw Zackary walking along the street sometime during the night.

"We saw the kid walking on the street on the sidewalk," he said. "Walk down a little way, walk back up and then we missed him."

After seven hours, police found Zackary by himself at a busy five-lane intersection of Liberty Avenue and the Van Wyck Expressway more than a mile and a half from his house.

"I have goosebumps just talking about it to everybody because I love the little boy and so does his mom and so does his brother," said family friend Julisa Ortiz. "Everybody loves him."

Police are now investigating the circumstances surrounding Zackary's disappearance and are checking out surveillance video from a nearby convenience store.

The store's owner said the video shows Zackary's older brother.

"They see his brother and his friend," the owner said.

However he disappeared, Zackary is safe now and back with his mother.

Police haven't said whether the 23-year-old brother who was watching Zackary when he disappeared will face criminal charges.

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