NOAH WAS LAST SEEN RUNNING AWAY. HOURS LATER, 1,300 PEOPLE WERE SEARCHING. NOW POLICE HAVE CONFIRMED HIS FATE.

Three-year-old Noah Woods disappeared in broad daylight after becoming separated from a relative near a playground in Brantham, Suffolk.

What followed was a desperate race against time.

Around 1,300 people joined the search.

Police officers, dogs, helicopters, firefighters, coastguard teams, specialist volunteers and Metropolitan Police divers searched through streets, fields and waterways for more than 24 hours.

Then investigators turned their attention to Decoy Pond.

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

Police have now formally confirmed the identity.

It was Noah Woods.

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

For more than a day, strangers searched alongside emergency crews with one hope — that Noah would be found alive.

That hope has now been shattered.

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 his son as “the sweetest and most innocent little boy.”

The playground where Noah was last seen is now becoming a memorial, with flowers, toys and messages left by a community mourning a child they had desperately hoped to see come home.

Thousands searched for Noah. The final answer came from the water.