A three-year-old boy spent nine hours trapped in a disused car on a hot day before his grandfather found his lifeless body curled up on the floor near the pedals, wearing a Spiderman outfit and holding two empty cups.

Daniel was reported missing just after 3.30pm on Tuesday when he disappeared from his grandmother’s home in Thabeban, four hours north of Brisbane, sparking a widespread search with multiple police and State Emergency Services units.

But the panic came to a tragic end at 9.25pm when the preschooler was found unresponsive in the back of a broken vehicle, about three metres from where he was last seen alive.

Despite earlier reports stating Daniel was not in the car when it was checked by search teams earlier in the day, his aunt Tracy Fuller told the Daily Mail the boy was in the car the whole time – but search teams just didn’t see him.

She said her nephew had likely been in the hot car for about two hours by the time the search began, and was probably already dead before it even started.

The situation unfolded about 1pm when relatives dropped Daniel home to his grandmother Linda Fuller’s house, where he had lived since he was 12 days old.

The relatives normally walked Daniel into the house, but that didn’t happen on this occasion.

Instead of walking inside by himself, Daniel raced to the backyard.

Pictured: Daniel, three, who was found dead in a disused car in a Spiderman suit on Tuesday

Daniel’s aunt Tracy Fuller said he was in the car for about nine hours. Search teams looked inside the car but didn’t see him

‘Being a little boy who loved cars, he obviously walked straight out the back to the cars and got in the driver’s side, where the handle was broken on the inside,’ Tracy said.

The other doors had working handles, but she said the toddler wouldn’t have considered trying to use another door to escape the vehicle.

Linda normally kept the car locked, but it wasn’t locked when Daniel climbed in on Tuesday.

She didn’t realise Daniel had come home until about two hours later, when his little sister arrived at her house and started asking where her brother was.

‘Linda ran around to the grandfather’s to find Daniel, and he didn’t know where Daniel was, so she ran back to her house looking for Daniel frantically,’ Tracy said.

It wasn’t until about 9.30pm that the little boy’s grandfather shone a torch into the front of the car and saw him on the floor of the driver’s side, holding two cups.

There were two cups in the car from when Linda, Daniel and his sister had been in the vehicle two days prior.

Tracy said Daniel found the cups while he was trapped, and likely held on to them because he was hot and thirsty.

Daniel’s family are devastated over the tragic accident, and have set up a fundraiser

Daniel is pictured with his mother, Jamaica. He had lived with his grandmother, Linda, since he was 12 days old

‘To my understanding, he was in the car the whole time, from 1pm to nearly ten at night,’ she said.

‘He was so loved by everyone, he will be missed.’

Daniel’s family is devastated and have set up a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds for Linda to organise a headstone and memorial, and to give her time to grieve.

‘With heavy hearts we are asking for support for my sister after the loss of her grandson, Daniel,’ Tracy wrote in the fundraiser.

‘My sister Linda has had care of Daniel since he was 12 days old, and she has been there for him from day one.

‘Daniel was my sister’s little rock and sidekick, and would go everywhere with my sister.’

She said all donations, big or small, would make a big difference for her family.

‘Please keep the family in your thoughts and prayers,’ she added.

Police told the Daily Mail the death is not being treated as suspicious.

A report will be prepared for the coroner.