Missing six-year-old boy with Down syndrome found alive and well in north-east Victoria

UPDATE: A six-year-old boy missing overnight near Beechworth in north-east Victoria has been found alive.

Emergency services had been scouring bushland since the boy went missing from his family's property on Wednesday afternoon. 

Ben Dean, who has Down syndrome, was last seen at the large rural property on Chiltern Road, Wooragee, 280 kilometres north of Melbourne, at about 5pm on Wednesday.

He was playing outside with a cricket bat shortly before he went missing.

He was found about 11.30am at a property on Mcfeeters Road, Beechworth. He is being assessed by paramedics and will be taken to Albury Hospital. 

The six-year-old is said to be mildly hypothermic following his night out in freezing conditions.

Police, SES and CFA crews battled cold and wet conditions on Wednesday night as they searched for the missing six-year-old.

A helicopter and sniffer dogs had been called in to help local police.

An operations centre was set up at Beechworth police station.

Before Ben was found, his mother turned to a community Facebook group on Thursday morning to thank police and locals for their effort overnight while battling "horrid" conditions. 

"Thanks for all your best wishes and thoughts," she said. 

Emergency services were searching the family's property. 

Victoria's Emergency Management Commissioner Craig Lapsley said the search was "intense". 

"The concern is the waterways around Beechworth," he said.

"The community would be very concerned and that's something ... [they] will rally around."

There were several dams within the search area.

To prevent confusion and traffic congestion, local SES crews had asked that people in the area who wanted to help in the search contact the Beechworth police station before going out alone.