I`ve been following this Cinds. Dreadful. How odd though. Mikaeel is small for his age, how could he open heavy security and fire doors? Why has no-one seen him?  A wee boy walking around on his own surely would have been spotted by someone.

What a worry for his family. I hope they find him safe and well soon.

I know what you mean, you would think someone would notice such a young child walking around on his own.

BBC have just reported a 'possible sighting'. 

I saw this on the news

I really hoped he'd have been found by now, the longer no one has seen him the more terrifying it must be for his parents.

It seems he did not attend the nursery on Wednesday because he had a cold, they now are saying he could have been missing for longer than first thought .

I read this story yesterday and last night before bed checked the news sites to see if he had been found.  I tossed and turned all night thinking about the poor boy  So upsetting to think of all the possible things that could have happened to him.  I know that's thinking too much but I have a nephew around the same age who would most certainly try to leave the house at any time on his own and it's made me think of how we would feel if it were him.

I know there's the obvious thoughts of the Mother having something to do with it and if, as Erin says, there are now questions of whether he has been missing longer then I fear something bad has happened but I just hope he is found safe and well but the more time that passes the less hope there is

But his Mum said she last saw him when she put him to bed at 9pm Strange if the facts were to start getting changed

Several people have come forward to say that they saw a young boy matching Mikaeel's description around 8.30am yesterday walking alone in the West Pilton area of Edinburgh, near his home in Ferry Gait.

CCTV footage has confirmed the presence of a small child in the area, according to Police Scotland, although it is impossible to verify the child's identity.

from the Daily Mail

The police must believe that he has wandered off by the size of the search teams going on. 

When watching the news yesterday about this sad affair the reporter was given out the description of what he was wearing.  .all outdoor clothes, coat, together with shoes too. .

my first thought was eh? the mother said she last saw him when she put him to bed the previous night. . either he goes to bed fully clothed or he is a pretty clever little 3 yr old to find all his clothes in the dark [which is how he would have had to dress himself if he was last seen at 9pm and gone by morning] and leave the flat as well... .

Do hope they find him and he is unharmed..

Olly, one of the news sites reported he had on a PJ top with some track bottoms.  Then his coat, gloves and shoes.  I would often put my kids to bed with track bottoms instead of pjs if it were quite cold or they;d been sick and it was the only pair of bottoms handy.

However, thinking of my nephew (who's 3) he wouldn't have the initiative to put on gloves, coat and shoes if he were sneaking out.  Shoes most likely but not coat and certainly not gloves.  BUT there are some 3 year olds out there who dress themselves quite well and could well think of these things.

I dunno, I'm flipping from one side to the other with this story. Doubt and hope

Who is saying that?  I haven't heard that on the news.  

Ells it was the coat and shoes bit that made me think eh? not anything underneath.. even if if could dress himself the mother said he hadn't been seen since she put him to bed at 9pm [bit late isn't that?] so he must have got himself up after everyone else had gone to bed as no one else saw him and meaning the house would be dark? then found his coat and shoes and wandered off.. I can't get my head around any of that tbh. . 

middle of summer, doors open yeah maybe a kid sneaks off unnoticed ..the middle of winter in the dark with all doors closed I find puzzling .. really hope he's ok

BBC reports a child was seen by motorists in the West Pilton area of Edinburgh at around 8.30am yesterday morning.

The child they saw was wearing a hat. Mikaeel didn`t like wearing hats.

Olly, that's pretty much what I said to Mr C about him putting his clothes on etc.  However, the leaving the home bit I can buy, as Master C did it when he was little around 2, I'd popped out and had left him with my Mother, she nodded off and he managed to open 2 doors (the first one I'll never know how as it was an old victorian interior door which was a struggle for adults to open, but he managed it).  I found him standing in the middle of a very busy main road in just his vest. Never felt so sick in all of my life.

Blimey Cinds.. can imagine that was scary for you.. . bet he didn't dress himself first tho.. that is what is puzzling me the most..

I know toddlers can be pretty smart and reach cupboards by dragging stuff to climb on etc. .but I can't see them getting up in the middle of the night in a  quiet house where everyone is asleep to go off for a walk.. .. 

I find that strange too, because lets face it toddlers aren't the quietest of people.  When I heard the story initially it made me think of that 3 parter Katherine Kelly was in last year.

Fingers crossed for a happy ending to this.

On the Scottish news today and that's why he was sleeping on his own ,he normally sleeps in the same bed as his sister .

I saw that about him being ill, I just wondered who was saying he might have been missing longer, because if that's the case then it means his mother is lying.

On the news at lunch time but I have no clue what channel I was on .I was hopping about channels and doing CBB updates at the time.

I find it all very strange ...but just hope they find the little guy safe and well soon

The child has not returned to the nursery since the Christmas break.

(Police Edinburgh live)

Journalist have asked the police if the boy has  been seen in public before Wednesday .The replied that they are establishing a time line .

I'm hoping this involves an absent father taking his son in a yet to be disclosed family dispute of child ownership.

It become a twin track investigation .Missing person /Criminal act .

There's something not quite right about all this.

Let's hope the wee soul is soon found, safe and well.

Regarding the timeline the police would have asked his siblings and relatives when they last saw him. As has been said it's an unusual case from what we've been told.

I hope this doesn't take the road it looks like it's going down

ACC Graham added: "Given the length of time between him last being seen on Wednesday evening in the family home by his mum and siblings, the lack of any confirmed sightings of Mikaeel and his very young age, we continue to look at every possible reason for his disappearance.

"It remains possible that he left his home on his own accord. It is also a possibility that there could be other factors involved in his disappearance. We have at this time nothing to confirm either way why Mikaeel has gone missing and strenuous efforts are ongoing to establish the full circumstances around this."

ACC Graham said Mikaeel had not been back to nursery at Flora Stevenson Primary since the Christmas break as he had a bad cold which developed into a chest infection.

I agree Yogi, there's no way he could have left that building on his own.

Poor wee fella  I pray this doesn't end in sad news.

Neighbours said he would have had to open four heavy doors before he got outside. There is something amiss.

I can see this being a more reasonable outcome.

Strange how no CCTV cameras have picked up footage of him leaving the building or walking around on the streets...this whole story is very odd.

I can't believe that the police really believe that one dark,cold morning that this child randomly decided to get up, put his coat on and go outside by himself, and how hasn't he been found yet, unless he's the master of hide and seek surely he would have been spotted by someone by now, or he would have gotten cold and hungry and have gotten help by now.

I hope he's ok.

I agree, the child might be back in Pakistan with his dad as we've heard stories in the past of this kind of thing.

I find that bits of the story just don't seem to add up. Why didn't the mother look in on her children before she went to bed? I think all mothers of small children check on them to make sure they're settled. The last time she saw him was 9.15 pm

Then there's the clothes and the doors he's have to negotiate

I hope it's a custody thing, but I fear for that little boy now

my little boy as just turned 3 i know all kids are different but if he woke up he would cry for me and would never go out in the dark like most im hoping it something simple like the father taking him

All is not what it seems .

I agree Erin.  

TV news said earlier today that apart from the family no one (neighbours etc) can say that they've seen this little boy since Christmas.

Is this still the case?

If so, I don't like the sound of that at all.