An eight-year-old boy has been reunited with his family after a supermarket night manager discovered him in a store room.

Camberwell Safeway store manager Ian Sims said the boy, who is thought to be autistic, entered the supermarket in Melbourne’s east  shortly after 3.30am while the night fill crew were stocking the shelves.

‘‘He was found in the stockroom by our night fill manager who incidentally happens to have an autistic boy of a similar age,’’ Mr Sims said.

‘‘He knew how to handle the situation. He sat down with the boy and talked with him. They shared a chocolate bar. When he gained the boy’s confidence he phoned the police.’’

Mr Sims dismissed  earlier  police claims that the boy’s ‘‘face was covered with chocolate ice-cream’’  and that he was found ‘‘with his head buried in the frozen food section after … taking a liking to some chocolate ice cream in the aisle’’. 

‘‘Untrue,’’  Mr Sims said.

A police spokesman said  the barefooted boy let himself out of his Camberwell home.

He was found at the supermarket after calls to triple-zero reported him  wandering the store.

He was returned to his parents after investigators found a name tag inside his pants.

Source:  http://www.theage.com.au/national/boy-8-found-in-supermarket-storeroom-20091026-hexd.html