FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – An 8-year-old boy who went missing from Arizona’s Lava River Cave on Wednesday night has been found alive and is under investigation.

According to the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office, Tzion Maron was reported missing around 6 p.m. local time on Wednesday after he became separated from his family in the cave near Flagstaff.

Before he disappeared, the boy was last seen near the cave entrance, according to authorities.

His family reported the boy missing after they could not find him in the immediate area, the sheriff’s office said.

Patrol officers and several search and rescue teams searched the area throughout the night and morning before the child was found Thursday afternoon. Officials said it had rained in the area all night.

The boy was described as being just over 4 feet tall and weighing about 50 pounds. He had brown hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a gray shirt with blue stripes, navy blue pants and sneakers.

Lava River Cave is a mile-long lava tube cave that was formed about 700,000 years ago, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service.

The cave can get as cold as 42 degrees even in the summer, and there may be some ice inside, the Forest Service said. The rocks in the cave can also be “sharp and slippery,” and visitors are asked to bring two or three light sources because “it can be very dark within a mile of the nearest light source,” according to the USDA.