Nine-year-old Bentley Stancil was found safe just before noon Wednesday. He went missing Tuesday morning after he walked away from his bus stop in Wendell, North Carolina.

The boy had last been seen walking east on Wendell Boulevard near a Hardee's restaurant Tuesday morning, according to the Wake Country Sheriff's Office. He was found by a Wake County Sheriff's Office deputy, a county spokeswoman said.

"We are very pleased and proud that he has been located, and he is safe," Wake County Sheriff Gerald Baker said at a new conference Wednesday.  

The sheriff said the 9-year-old was found hiding in a camper that search crews had already looked through.

"We are trying to sort through the details as to why he was hiding," Baker said. "Whether it was because he was scared of how much law enforcement was there or something else."

The sheriff said they are investigating what happened that led to the boy running away.

"It was our hope and my prayer last night that the weather, it being damp and wet, would be enough to get him to say, 'Hey, I'm cold and sleeping hungry,' but that didn't happen," Baker said Wednesday morning before searchers found the boy.

Wednesday morning dozens of volunteers gathered at a church in Wendell to help with the search. Local police and first responders are leading the search, joined by state agencies and the FBI.

The searchers combed the area on foot, with dogs and in the air with drones and a helicopter, county officials said.

The area around where Stancil went missing is between suburban and rural, with wooded areas, fields, trailer parks and subdivisions.

The Wake County Sheriff's Office put out an Amber Alert Tuesday night as cold rain blanketed the region.