A young boy has died after going missing from his home in a remote community southwest of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory.
The boy's family reported his absence to police after they had searched for several hours.
Northern Territory police mounted a search operation late on New Year's Eve.
"Tragically the child was found in the community early this morning and has subsequently passed away," Acting Commander Kirsten Engels said on Saturday.
"We request that the family's privacy is respected at this time and offer our sincere condolences for their loss," Commander Engels said in a statement.
A police spokeswoman told AAP it was too early to speculate on the cause of death and police would investigate and prepare a report for the coroner.
Police would not name the community and would only say the boy was aged under 10.
