Scottish police say there has been a possible sighting of missing Mikaeel Kular (3). Members of the public reported seeing a boy at West Pilton Gardens, Edinburgh, not far from Mikaeel's home, yesterday morning, at around 8.30am.
The timing of the sighting has been confirmed by CCTV images, although these cannot confirm the identity of the child.
Superintendent Liz McAinsh from Police Scotland says they need the help of the public in establishing who it was.
Superintendent McAinsh said it appeared that Mikaeel did not like wearing hats or caps and there was no such item missing from the house.
At a press conference earlier, she said "hundreds and hundreds" of police officers, from forces across the UK, had joined the search. She revealed that police had received 150 calls to a hotline dedicated to the boy's disappearance and all lines of inquiry were still open.
"I remain optimistic, I really do, but as time passes we become deeply concerned" she said.
Today, hundreds of volunteers began a search for the missing three-year-old, who vanished after being put to bed by his mother at around 9pm on Wednesday.
The child's mother found his room empty when she went wake him on Thursday morning.
Superintendent McAinsh said "Mikaeel's mother is getting a lot of support from both the police, her family and her friends but clearly she is very distraught, she just wants her little boy back home with his brothers and sisters".
Some investigators have said that it would have been "practically impossible" for Mikaeel to have left the home alone and suspect a professional abduction.
A police helicopter, sniffer dogs, coastguard and lifeboat teams have been searching the area surrounding the flat he shares with four siblings in Ferry Gait Crescent.
Forensic teams are examining a second address in a block of flats near his home. Officers have also urged neighbours to check gardens, sheds, parks and lock-ups.
This afternoon, volunteers could be seen standing shoulder to shoulder, scouring the foreshore at Cramond. Many of those taking part were mothers wheeling prams.
The temperature in Edinburgh overnight dropped to around 3C.
Alison McDonald is a reporter with Real Radio Scotland. She told Breakfast here on Newstalk earlier there were still no leads in the case.
Police Scotland has activated the Child Rescue Alert system, which is usually reserved for abduction and kidnap cases and supported by all police forces across the UK.
The search remains focused around the Drylaw, Pennywell, Muirhouse and Silverknowes areas of Edinburgh, but other forces are now involved.
Mikaeel, who has two sisters and two brothers, was discovered missing from his bed by his mother at around 7.15am on Thursday.
He usually sleeps in the same room as his twin sister but was alone on Wednesday night. His jacket and shoes were missing and police are looking into whether he might have left of his own accord.
Mikaeel is slim, 2-feet in height, of Asian appearance and possibly wearing a thigh-length beige hooded coat. He may also be wearing black gloves with multi-coloured fingers, dark navy blue jogging bottoms, a grey pyjama top with an embroidered turquoise dinosaur on the chest and brown Clarks shoes.
He has a faded scar on the bridge of his nose and a sore on the left hand side of his mouth.
Police in Edinburgh are continuing their search for 3-year-old missing boy Mikaeel Kular http://t.co/qmVVvojk5d pic.twitter.com/eo0gaD6Bhw
— EdinburghPolice (@EdinburghPolice) January 17, 2014
