Toddler reunited with family after wandering Woonona street alone at night

The two-year-old boy was found near the IGA on Russell Street at 9pm on Wednesday, July 3, with a concerned woman posing a photo of him on Facebook.

"Please contact the police if you know who this little boy is or if he is your child. He has been found out in the rain on his own," Jenni Ludewig wrote.

Comments came quickly, with people sharing the post and others saying that police officers were door-knocking nearby homes.

"We had police knocking on our door five minutes ago asking if we knew him," one person posted.

Wollongong Police District Inspector James Dark said some reports on social media that the post was a hoax were incorrect.

"The boy left home at 8.45pm and was found at 9pm," he said.

"He was returned to his grandmother at Bulli."

Insp Dark said the boy was uninjured.

IGA Woonona assistant manger Greg Haines praised locals for their help in reuniting the boy with his family.

"Thanks to our great community the little boy has been reunited with his grandma," he posted on Facebook.

"This was not a hoax as some implied he is happy and well in his grandmas arms thanks again a fantastic outcome."

Mr Haines thanked IGA staffers for walking the streets to try and find the boy's home, and others for looking after the toddler until police arrived.

"A great outcome and thanks too, and the speed of police who arrived instantly [when] I placed the call," he wrote.

Some people shared their own stories on the Facebook thread of how their child had wandered off.

"When my daughter was young she climbed out her bedroom window to cross the road to play with her friend. Lucky her mum was also my friend so she kept her safe and it was a quiet street," one person wrote.

Another said it had happened to their friend.

"One morning the husband got up to feed baby, 18 months, and let wife sleep. He then went to work, and as he closed the back door a garbage bag - they use to hang bag from back of door - got caught between the latch," the post said.

"Then big winds came and blew the back door open. Their child got out with mum's car keys and sat on the gutter hitting lock/unlock beside their car. Next thing mum woke up to two police officers in her bedroom asking if she knew where her child was."

Meanwhile, police are still searching for at least 14 long-term missing people who were last seen in the Illawarra, the youngest, Cheryl Grimmer, was just three years old when she went missing.

In May this year, officers revealed details of a Holden Kingswood sedan that could hold clues into the disappearance of Wollongong woman Pauline Sowry who was last seen in December 1993.