FBI joins Maddox Ritch, a missing 6-year-old boy from North Carolina

The FBI and two dozen agencies are working to find a missing 6-year-old boy with special needs who disappeared Saturday in North Carolina.

Maddox Ritch was last seen by her father and another adult in Rankin Lake Park, Gastonia, according to local police.

The FBI arrived at Gastonia on Sunday to help the police and the city's fire departments, as well as other local agencies, to conduct searches. About 100 people searched more than 1400 acres in and around the park on Sunday.

According to the agency's Facebook page, search and rescue teams also work overnight. The nearby Charlotte-Mecklenburg police also sent her helicopter to help with aerial search in the night.

Gastonia's police were also informed that Maddox was autistic and non-verbal. Maddox was last seen wearing an orange t-shirt with "I am the man" written on the front.

"Maddox's family has been interviewed and is working closely with us," Gastonia Police Chief Robert Helton told WCNC, a local affiliate of NBC.

"At this point, they ask for intimacy and prayers, every second counts when a child is missing, our goal is to find Maddox as quickly as possible and bring him home."

Authorities published a hotline for anyone with information or in the park at the time of the boy's disappearance.

An AMBER alert has not been issued because Ritch's disappearance "does not meet the criteria," FBI Special Agent Jason Kaplan told WCNC.

The local police have canceled all park activities, which will remain closed to the public until further notice.