UPDATE 2.20pm: A third Bendigo resident who saw the boy at the service station said he was buying pizza when he saw the three-year-old boy.
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The resident, who does not wish to be named, said the boy, 3, "looked too young to be wandering around by himself".
"He flew past me and went straight in there and starting getting into the lollies," he said.
He said the police arrived and took the boy to see if they could find where he lived.
The resident said one the boy's siblings came looking for the boy and the police quickly located the home, only about 150 metres from the service station.
He said the boy was never taken to Bendigo police station.
UPDATE 1.20pm: Bendigo police have confirmed that police were called out to a BP service station in Epsom on Wednesday to help a three-year-old boy.
"Police yesterday during the afternoon were alerted to a young boy who was at the BP service station alone and with no parents," Acting Sergeant Brian Hansen said.
"Police attended and through a course of inquiry have been able to locate the parents and reunite the child with his parents," he said.
Acting Sergeant Hansen said it was unclear why or how the boy came to be alone outside his home.
He said the matter was not under investigation.
He said there was never any connection to missing New South Wales boy William Tyrell.
UPDATE 12.10pm: A second person has contacted the Bendigo Advertiser to say he saw a young boy at the BP service station in Epsom on Wednesday evening.
Epsom resident Ash Hemming was filling up his car when he noticed the boy.
"There was definitely a young fella in there," he said.
Mr Hemming said a woman asked him if the child belonged to him, but he said no.
When the parents were not with the child, Mr Hemming said they called police.
The Bendigo Advertiser has contacted police to clarify the situation.
UPDATE 11.30am: A woman has contacted the Bendigo Advertiser saying she posted the photo of a boy on Wednesday night after she personally saw him at a BP service station in Epsom.
Epsom resident Cathleen Hemmes said she had no intention of connecting the child to missing New South Wales boy William Tyrell.
She said the text with the photo she originally posted read:
"Does anyone know who this child (is). He has just appeared outside the BP service station at Epsom. He is here at the service station, no parents in sight."
Ms Hemmes said a man passing by the service station saw a young boy dressed only in a nappy and t-shirt and brought him inside.
"He pulled up at service station and brought him in and service station staff were there as well. Bendigo police came and picked him up," Ms Hemmes said.
"I was there. I saw them go," she said.
"They couldn’t communicate with the boy. I believe later they located his parents."
Ms Hemmes said she was upset about comments on social media criticising her for sharing the photo.
"I never mentioned William Tyrell. You get a slap in the face basically for trying to help out."
EARLIER: A FACEBOOK post calling for people to identify a little boy who arrived at a BP service station in Bendigo with no parents is a hoax, police say.
An image of a young boy standing in the BP station was shared widely across Facebook overnight and was quickly linked to the search for missing New South Wales boy William Tyrell.
Several people contacted the Port Macquarie News claiming the boy at Bendigo police station could be William Tyrell.
At least one New South Wales resident called CrimeStoppers after seeing the post.
The man said: ''This is probably a long shot, but this pic showed up on my Facebook and it looks a bit like the missing kid from Kendall. I called CrimeStoppers and let them know.''
A second woman said: ''A little boy was just found in Bendigo, it looks so much like William.''
But Senior Sergeant John Dalton said police had investigated the Facebook post and declared it a hoax.
"We don't have any child at the police station," Senior Sergeant Dalton said.
He warned people to be careful of what they believe on Facebook and other social media sites.
"We may see a lot of this happen in the future - these social media hoaxes," Senior Sergeant Dalton said.
"We ask people to be mindful of the accuracy of these posts."
