Baby Noah Woods' body found in pond, police confirms

Police searching for a three-year-old boy who went missing while playing in a playground in Suffolk have found a body in a pond.

Noah Woods went missing at 2:37 p.m. on Tuesday, September 15, in Merriam Close, Brantham, near Manningtree, before becoming separated from a relative.

The body was discovered Wednesday, September 16, in Decoy Pond, an area officers had cordoned off earlier in the day.

Superintendent Tom Pearse of Suffolk said: “Formal identification has yet to take place, but the family of Noah Woods has been informed of this development. The discovery of the body is currently being treated as not suspicious but unexplained.”

As an autistic, non-verbal child with partial hearing loss, calling Noah's name wouldn't have worked. The last sighting of him showed that he ran down an alley near the playground towards a housing estate and away from the water.

More than 1,300 members of the general public helped with the huge search mission, which included help from the police, fire, coast guard, and search-and-rescue teams as well as sniffer dogs and helicopters. Specialised divers were also sent from the Metropolitan Police.

Before Noah was found, his father wrote on social media urging volunteers not to give up, saying: "I cannot go another night knowing he's out there alone."