Amber alert issued for missing Gold Coast boy Koby Chandler, 7.

UPDATE: Queensland Police Media are reporting that Koby has been found, safe and healthy. They thank the community for their help in locating him.
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An amber alert has been issued for a seven-year-old boy last seen playing out the front of his Gold Coast home on Thursday afternoon.

Key points:
Koby Chandler, 7, last seen outside his Southport home about 4:00pm on Thursday
Police, SES and members of the public join in search overnight
Amber alert issued, but police “suspect nothing suspicious at this point”
Koby Chandler was last seen playing out the front of a house on Joan Street in Southport about 4:00pm, wearing his blue Southport State School uniform.

The Queensland Police Service (QPS) issued an amber alert regarding his disappearance late last night.

This morning, inspector Scott MacQueen said there was nothing to suggest anything sinister has happened to the boy.

“The witnesses that we have located observed the young boy playing out the front of his house. There’s been a 15-minute gap where no-one has seen him,” he said.

“When people have returned he has not been located.

“There is an option there that he may have wandered off, however, there is nothing suspicious at this point that we are aware of.

“We are obviously investigating that and making further inquiries.”

A mass search last night involving police on foot, PolAir and SES volunteers did not turn up any trace of Koby.

Police and members of the public continued to search the area into the morning.

State Emergency Services volunteers returned to the search at first light today.

Police have asked residents in the Southport area to check their yards and any sheds, cubby houses, caravans, boats or vehicles where a child may be seeking shelter.

However, they have also asked anyone out looking not to enter private yards or areas closed to the public.

“Leave those areas to police and official search agencies. Be safe and keep sharing our posts,” they wrote on Facebook.

Koby has been described as 120-125 centimetres tall, with blonde shaved hair.

His school uniform is a light-blue polo shirt, dark-blue shorts, and grey shoes.

Anyone with information which could assist investigators should phone 131 564.

According to the QPS, an amber alert is a process that involves the urgent broadcast of relevant information through the media and other means to the public to facilitate the search for, location and the safe recovery of an abducted child or high risk missing child.

This post originally appeared on ABC News.