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Missing autistic teen found on houseboat after desperate search

UPDATE: A non-verbal teen with autism missing on the NSW Central Coast has been found.

NSW Police said the boy, 13, was found safe and well on a houseboat about 50 meters offshore from the Mooney Mooney public wharf about 4.40pm.

He was spotted by someone passing by who contacted police.

It follows police conducting a desperate search to find him after he was last seen at his Mooney Mooney home on the Pacific Highway at 7.30pm on Wednesday.

Police on Thursday morning began searching the Mooney Mooney, Kangaroo Point and Brooklyn areas for the boy.

Stock image of New South Wales Police badges in Sydney.
A teenage boy who went missing on Wednesday has been found. Source: AAP (file pic)

The area is surrounded by the Hawkesbury River and dense bushland.

"Understandably, the family are beside themselves," NSW Police spokeswoman Kylie Phillips told reporters on Thursday morning.

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