"Captain is a hard bushman and Daniel is following in his footsteps. They breed them tough out bush."

He said Land Care Rangers on foot and on quad bikes searched for the boy on high land.

"They decided to search the high lands because they thought there was no way he went into the croc waters."

Mr Knight said the locals believed Daniel was lured by a spirit who visits him.

Police from Wadeye Station drove 85km to join the search and arrived when community members had tracked Daniel to the creek.

"He was OK, he was fine. He just wandered off in the middle of the bush," Sergeant Shane Taylor said.

The crocs saw that there wasn't a bit on him.