HE WAS ONLY 3. HE VANISHED IN BROAD DAYLIGHT. NOW POLICE HAVE CONFIRMED THE WORST.

Three-year-old Noah Woods disappeared after leaving a playground in Brantham.

For more than 24 hours, around 1,300 people searched desperately for him.

Then the search reached Decoy Pond.

Specialist divers recovered the body of a child from the water.

Police have now formally confirmed the devastating truth:

It was Noah Woods.

Noah was last seen at around 2:37 p.m. on September 15, after becoming separated from a relative. CCTV showed him running down an alleyway before disappearing from sight.

His disappearance triggered a huge operation involving police officers, search dogs, helicopters, firefighters, coastguard crews, specialist volunteers and Metropolitan Police divers.

For more than a day, people searched streets, fields and waterways, refusing to give up hope that the little boy would be found alive.

But the search ended at Decoy Pond.

Suffolk Constabulary says Noah’s death is not being treated as suspicious, although the circumstances remain unexplained and further enquiries are continuing for the coroner.

His father, Rhys Woods, described Noah as “the sweetest and most innocent little boy.”

Flowers, toys and messages are now being left at the playground where Noah was last seen as the community mourns the child thousands had desperately hoped to bring home.

He disappeared as a little boy everyone was trying to find. He was found as the heartbreaking answer to their search.