Nicholas Read, a Winnipeg-area teen with autism who went missing on Wednesday, was found three days later and more than 2,000 kilometres away in Pickering, Ont., according to his family.

Rob Read, left, with his son, Nicholas, in a family photo. The 16-year-old was reported missing on Wednesday and found late Saturday — in another province. (Family photo) The 16-year-old boy's father, Rob Read, says Nicholas somehow hitched a ride east with a truck driver in Headingley, near Winnipeg.

"He, I guess, was sitting at the Denny's [restaurant] in Headingley talking to different truckers, trying to find someone that would take him out to the Toronto area," Read told CBC News in an interview late Sunday from their home in West St. Paul, just outside the city.

"The way I understand the story, there was a fellow there that figured out what he was up to and thought, 'This kid's probably safer with me than with some of the real creeps and weirdos that are around there' and, you know, grabbed him and got to know him a little bit."

Nicholas had been last seen at 7:30 a.m. CT Wednesday when his father dropped him off at West Kildonan Collegiate in Winnipeg. He did not go to any of his classes and did not return home on the school bus.

He was reported missing to RCMP on Wednesday evening.

Police would only say Nicholas was located safe and sound late Saturday. They did not release further details about his whereabouts or how he was found.

Depending on the route taken, Pickering is between 2,050 and 2,300 kilometres from Headingley. It's just east of Toronto.

Rob Read said after the truck driver dropped the boy off in Pickering, "he alerted the police as to where Nick was and they ripped over there and picked him up."

'It's such a relief'

Read said the family paid for a flight home for Nicholas. Police officers put him on the plane back to Winnipeg, where he was picked up at the airport Sunday morning.

"Oh, it's such a relief…. He's obviously tired, a little dishevelled, but you know, he looks fine and he was feeling very anxious," Read said.

RCMP released this photograph of Nicholas Read on Friday in the hopes that someone would have information about his whereabouts. The 16-year-old was found safe and sound late Saturday, according to police. (RCMP) "My poor wife is in tears and just so pleased to see him and see that he was safe. Our daughter, the same thing. We all just gave him a big hug and told him that we love him and basically just brought him home, and he wanted to go straight to bed. He was exhausted."

As to how Nicholas made his way to Headingley, or why he wanted to go to Toronto, Read said the family doesn't yet know those things.

"As a family, we haven't even sat down. Like, we didn't want to just go into kind of interrogation mode," he said. "We just wanted to get home and get settled first."

The family has said Nicholas was recently diagnosed with autism. He is high-functioning and social and had not gone missing before.

Read has said he believed stress at school may have been a possible factor in his son's disappearance.

The Read family issued a statement thanking everyone who helped in the search for Nicholas.