MONROE, Wash. -- Three boys who disappeared from a home near the Evergreen State Fairgrounds late Wednesday were found safe Thursday morning.

Monroe police spokeswoman Debbie Willis said the boys were found sitting on a curb about 9:20 a.m. near their home.

"They had not been there very long," Willis said. The boys had apparently spent the night exploring the woods.

Police were called about 9:45 p.m. Wednesday when the boys, identified as Dylan Lewis, 11, and brothers Ethyan, 8, and Eli Gertschitz, 10, failed to come home after playing outside.

Police, search and rescue crews, family members, neighbors and a sheriff's helicopter have been searching through the night.

Monroe police say the boys had gone into a field across from their houses were the weeds were about 3 feet high. They set their coats down and laid on the grass, even while hearing their parents calling their names and helicopters flying overhead.

The boys said they were scared that they would get in trouble. Thursday morning, they hid behind a nearby rockery, then went out to the curb upon being discovered.