Oak Bluffs police said a missing three-year-old child was found safe early Saturday morning with the help of a police dog.

According to a press release from Oak Bluffs police Sgt. Nicholas Curelli, police were dispatched to a home on Bayes Hill Road in Oak Bluffs at about 6:15 a.m. Saturday because of a report of a missing three-year-old girl. The parents told police that they last saw their daughter at midnight, and when they woke up at 6 a.m. the front door was unlocked and the child was not in the house or yard.

With heavy rain Saturday morning, police were concerned about the child’s exposure to the elements, Sergeant Curelli said. Oak Bluffs police began a search of the surrounding area with the help of other police departments, including Edgartown police officer Jeff Trudel and his K-9 partner, Buster.

About an hour into the search, Officer Trudel and Buster located the child in an overgrown path several hundred yards off the roadway. Sergeant Curelli said the child was curled into the fetal position and shivering, as she was cold from the heavy rain.

Sergeant Curelli said the child told Officer Trudel she was okay and “couldn’t find her mommy,” and she began to pet Buster.

The child was reunited with her parents, police said, and they were all transported to the hospital for an evaluation.

Buster, a four-year-old black Lab, joined the Island police ranks in fall 2011. He is trained to detect drugs and find missing people.