Scott Wise and Alix Bryan CBS 6 Executive Producer/CBS6 Web Staff

1:35 p.m. EDT, October 29, 2011

HANOVER COUNTY, VA (WTVR) - One of the largest searches in Virgina's history has ended successfully.

Robert Wood Jr. has been found alive following a six-day search in the woods north of Richmond, confirmed Batt. Chief Willie Jones with the Hanover County Fire Department.

Robert was found at approximately 2 p.m. in a creek bed at the Martin Marietta quarry, 2.5 miles west of where he was last seen. [VIDEO: Boy found in grove of trees in blasting area of quarry]

The eight-year-old boy is said to be in good condition and has been airlifted to the VCU Medical Center.

Robert is in the emergency room being evaluated and treated. A doctor at the emergency room said Robert was alert but could not go into specifics about his health. "It's very difficult to speculate how he is in such good condition at this time."

Robert is reportedly very responsive and smiled when he saw his mother. The doctor said Robert would probably be there a few days.

"Thank you for searching and thank you for respecting our privacy," his mother said.

"I would like to extend my gratitude for all those who held us in their prayers and who donated resource," said his father, in a media release.

"He was in serious but good shape," said Lt. Col. David Hines, and noted that Robert was found by a citizen volunteer.

Robert was reportedly found in the fetal position and with all his clothes still on, said Hines.

He could be treated for anything from malnutrition to hypothermia in this situation said a doctor. Temperatures dropped very low several nights, and the forecast called for falling temperatures, sleet and light snow ahead for the weekend [VIDEO: Found in the knick of time]

Jeffery Reihl,  an emergency room physician at Henrico Doctors, speculated that being near water likely contributed to Robert’s survival, keeping him hydrated. The human body can live two to three days without water.

“Very lucky he was found at the time he was,” Reihl said.

Staff and parents are at MCV waiting to get information to piece together how Robert wound up in that location, Hanover Sheriff's Captain Mike Trice said.

"I knew something was happening that was powerful and was fortunate to be part of the team when he was found," said Trice, who also said the helicopter "just couldn't get there fast enough, land fast enough."

It is possible that Robert crossed Verdon Road and wound up in the quarry, and that would explain why search crews found little evidence of the boy in the search grids.

Robert has autism and does not speak, a factor which had complicated the search. There was concern that search crews would startle him and make him run. [PHOTOS: Volunteers, dive teams and search dogs look for missing boy]

Officials have said that Robert had a fascination with the water. The North Anna Nuclear Plant helped aid in the search effort by lowering the water.

Search teams placed survival kits, with blankets and food rations, throughout the forests and they were illuminated with glowsticks.

Police said Robert ran away from his family around 2:45 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 23. [STORY: Read the original story that CBS6 first broke on the missing boy]

He was hiking with his father, younger brother and his father's girlfriend on one of the wooded trails along an 80-acre Civil War battlefield in Hanover County.