forest
© Sputnik / Pavel Lisitsin
The bizarre incident occurred in Losiny Ostrov National Park in Moscow, where a 6-year-old boy got lost in the wild, according to his mother. Multiple witnesses accounts, however, suggest he was left there on purpose.

Early on Sunday, a woman called the police, stating that her 6-year-old son got lost in Losiny Ostrov (Moose island) the evening before. The mother had apparently searched for him for hours, before giving up and seeking help from the authorities.

The mother and her son were driving past the park, and the child all of a sudden asked her to go for a stroll there. While in the forest, the boy ran away and got lost, according to the woman.

The park's location on the outskirts of Russia's capital should not deceive you. It is actually a genuine forest, with few man-made roads, rough terrain and even marshes. And, yes, there are mooses out there, as well as other, potentially dangerous wildlife - for a six-year-old child especially.

One can imagine the hardships a little child has to endure alone in the forest. If a moose or wild boars did not accidently stomp on him, the weather might have actually claimed his life. Fortunately it was quite warm overnight - well, from the point of view of a Russian at least - it was only a few degrees Celsius below zero.

The story, however, ended happily as the boy managed to get out of the forest by himself, emerging on the Moscow Ring Road early in the morning. There he was picked up by motorists, who brought him to a petrol station and called the cops. The boy suffered from hypothermia, yet was fine otherwise.

There might be more in this story - turning the thriller into an outright horror. Some media outlets reported, citing eyewitnesses, that the boy had his hands tied with tape and sported a bag on his head when he emerged from the forest. The boy allegedly told the motorists, who rescued him, that it was his mother who left him in the forest, tying him to a tree. Her actions were described as a cruel punishment - the boy allegedly "nearly drowned" their family dog.

While the vile details of the story were not officially confirmed, the authorities have taken the whole incident very seriously, with Russia's investigative committee launching a probe into how exactly the boy ended up all alone in the forest at night.