NEW CCTV REVEALS NOAH WOODS’ LAST KNOWN MOVEMENTS AS SEARCH TAKES HEARTBREAKING TURN

New CCTV footage has revealed the last known movements of three-year-old Noah Woods as a massive search operation in Suffolk took a heartbreaking turn.

Noah disappeared in Brantham, Suffolk, on Tuesday, September 15, after becoming separated from a relative following a visit to the playground on Merriam Close.

Police said CCTV captured Noah at approximately 2:37 p.m., playing in the park before he ran down an alleyway beside the playground toward a nearby new-build housing estate.

The footage was released as hundreds of police officers, specialist search teams and members of the public searched the area for the missing child.

Noah was described by police as non-verbal and partially deaf and was undergoing an assessment for autism. Officers said these vulnerabilities meant he would not necessarily respond if someone called his name.

MASSIVE SEARCH BRINGS COMMUNITY TOGETHER

The search quickly grew into a huge community effort.

Police were supported by specialist officers, dog units, helicopters, HM Coastguard, Suffolk Fire & Rescue Service and search-and-rescue teams.

Around 1,300 members of the public also joined the effort, with volunteers searching gardens, outbuildings and other areas around Brantham.

Noah’s father, Rhys Woods, made an emotional appeal for people not to stop searching.

He thanked emergency services and volunteers who had traveled from across the area to help find his son and urged people to continue looking.

SPECIALIST DIVERS SEARCH DECoy POND

As the search continued, police cordoned off Decoy Pond, a fishing lake located near the playground where Noah was last seen.

Specialist diving teams were brought in to search the water, while other teams continued searching surrounding areas.

Then, on Wednesday afternoon, Suffolk Police announced a devastating discovery.

Police dive teams had recovered the body of a child from Decoy Pond.

At the time of the announcement, formal identification had not yet taken place, but Noah’s family had been informed.

Superintendent Tom Pearse said the discovery was being treated as “not suspicious but unexplained”, with the coroner due to be informed.

POLICE THANK VOLUNTEERS

The news left volunteers and members of the local community devastated after more than a thousand people had spent hours searching for the little boy.

Superintendent Pearse thanked everyone who had helped with the operation, saying police had been overwhelmed by the public response.

He also asked the community to respect Noah’s family and give them time and privacy following the latest development.

Police had previously said there was nothing at that stage to indicate criminality or anything suspicious, while emphasizing that officers were keeping an open mind about the circumstances surrounding Noah’s disappearance.

The investigation remains ongoing as authorities work to establish the circumstances surrounding the child’s disappearance and the discovery at Decoy Pond.

For a community that had come together in extraordinary numbers to search for a missing three-year-old, the latest development has brought profound sadness.

Noah’s final known movements, captured by CCTV at a local playground, have now become a central part of an investigation that has left his family and the entire Brantham community heartbroken.