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A young boy found after he went missing for two days in the woods said that he “hung out with a bear .”

Casey Hathaway, had been playing outside his great-grandmother’s house with two other children on Tuesday.

The three-year-old then apparently wandered off into the woods in North Carolina, USA, as reported by a local news channel WITN.

Hundreds of people, drones, helicopters and search dogs looked for Casey but were unable to find him , according to the news channel.

The area began to experience freezing temperatures and heavy rain over the following days, with many beginning to fear the worst for the boy.

(Image: Facebook)

Local woman Lisa Fraker had returned home on Thursday evening after getting involved in the search party.

As she went to take her dogs out for a walk she heard what she believed to be a child crying near her home.

Ms Fraker took her dogs back inside before contacting an emergency responder to listen to the noises.

She told WITN: “Next thing I know, [the emergency responder] was coming back and telling me that yes, he heard something too.

(Image: Facebook)

"And the next thing I know, everybody was running up there and I heard he was found."

Emergency responder Captain Shane Grier discovered Casey to be tangled up in a thorn bush but said he did not appear to be seriously harmed.

He said: “You could tell he was very cold so we immediately started warming him up once we got him to the vehicle.

“The more we warmed him up, it seemed the better he got.”

(Image: Facebook)

An ambulance rushed the boy to a local hospital but apart from cuts and bruises, Casey seemed to be unharmed, according to WITN.

His aunt Breanna Hathaway posted on Facebook that her nephew is well since he was found.

She said: “Casey is healthy, smiling and talking.

"He said he hung out with a bear for two days.

"God sent him a friend to keep him safe."

She added that one of her nephew is a big fan of the Russian cartoon Masha and the Bear.