THEY SEARCHED FOR NOAH EVERYWHERE — UNTIL POLICE DIVERS FOUND A CHILD BENEATH THE WATER

Three-year-old Noah Woods disappeared in broad daylight.

For more than 24 hours, around 1,300 people searched desperately for him, refusing to give up hope that the missing toddler would be found alive.

Then the search reached Decoy Pond.

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

Police have now formally confirmed the devastating identity:

It was Noah Woods.

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

What followed was a huge search involving police officers, dogs, helicopters, firefighters, coastguard crews, specialist volunteers and Metropolitan Police divers.

For more than a day, streets, fields and waterways were searched as thousands hoped for a different ending.

It never came.

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 a place of remembrance, with flowers, toys and messages left by a grieving community.

They were searching for a missing three-year-old. They found the answer beneath the water.