It was a mystery that every parent dreads – how a toddler can run off from a playground and simply vanish.
But yesterday, after a frantic 24 hours during which more than 2,000 members of the public joined police, coastguards and other agencies in the wide-ranging search for Noah Woods, a body was found in a large pond just 250 yards away.
Although formal identification has yet to take place, the three-year-old’s parents have been informed and a file has been passed to the coroner.
This morning, more than 100 floral tributes had already been left at the playground, along with touching messages, teddy bears and model cars.
There were also Bluey toys, in recognition of one of the youngster’s favourite cartoon characters. He was wearing a T-shirt of the puppy when he ran off.
Noah’s tragic last journey began in Merriam Way playground in Brantham, Suffolk, where he was playing with a relative on Tuesday afternoon.
Three-year-old Noah Woods had been at a playground in Brantham, Suffolk
He suddenly ran off at 2.37pm down a path that runs alongside the play area and heads downhill past a newbuild housing estate.
Although his exact route is yet to be confirmed, it almost certainly took him past an area of the building site that remains under construction.
It sits beside picturesque Decoy Pond – a 150-yard-wide fishing pond with ducks and cormorants, surrounded by trees and fields, that is an attractive spot for young children.
Divers entered the water near this point yesterday afternoon, and a short while later they found a body and the tragic announcement was made at 5.40pm.
Concerns about finding Noah had been heightened by the fact that he was non-verbal with partial hearing loss and was undergoing tests for autism.
The toddler disappeared after running from the play area, where a relative had accompanied him
More than 100 bouquets have been left by the playground, as well as messages and toys
But it now seems likely he found his way to the pond within a short time of getting lost.
Speaking at a nearby leisure centre, an emotional Superintendent Tom Pearse, of Suffolk Police, said yesterday afternoon: ‘Our thoughts are with Noah’s family and all those who knew him.
‘We have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of public support and people putting on their boots to help.’
As darkness fell last night, a number of villagers left candles at the playground.
The floral tributes for Noah, who had curly ginger hair, started to be placed next to the play area’s wooden fence this morning.
One message next to a cuddly toy read: ‘Little Noah, May you rest in eternal peace. You will remain in the hearts of the village and all your friends forever. Shine bright XX’.
Another said: ‘We didn’t know you but we helped to find you. RIP little man’, while a sticker on a bouquet read, ‘You have touched do many hearts. RIP’.
Divers found a body of a child in nearby Decoy Pond yesterday afternoon
Pictures released by police show Noah’s last movements
There were also personal notes left in envelopes for Noah’s family and a message attached to a Bluey butterflies book, saying: ‘I am so sorry Noah that we were not close enough to you last night. Sleep tight angel boy’.
Up to 1,000 people spent Tuesday night searching the village and local farmland for him, alongside teams of police, coastguards and firefighters after the alarm was raised
Noah’s desperate father Rhys Woods, 25, posted on social media asking volunteers to widen their search beyond the village where possible.
‘I cannot go another night knowing he’s out there alone, please don’t give up on him, guys. He is out there somewhere and I appreciate every single one of you,’ he said.
Police estimated that 1,300 members of the public flocked to the village beside the River Stour estuary to resume the search for him yesterday.
The search was coordinated by Brantham parish council, which used the village hall and leisure centre as hubs to organise the effort.
But volunteers were left in tears as the terrible news emerged that a body had been located.
Georgia Terry, 30, a carer who had rushed from her job in Clacton, Essex, to join the hunt, told the Daily Mail: ‘It just makes your blood run cold. In the blink of an eye, as well. It’s dreadful.’
A man in his 30s, walking with a young girl at his side, wiped his eyes as he said: ‘It sounded bad from the start but we had to come because there’s always hope.
‘It looks like that’s gone now. I can’t imagine what Noah’s family are going through.’
Superintendent Pearse said the death was being treated as unexplained but not suspicious.
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