Suffolk constabulary found a body in Decoy Pond in Brantham on Wednesday during the search for Noah Woods, the three-year-old who vanished after a visit to a play area on the Suffolk-Essex border. Supt Tom Pearse said five search teams found the body of a child after an operation that had stretched across the village and surrounding area.
Pearse said Noah's family had been informed and needed "time, space and privacy". The boy was last seen at 3pm on Tuesday in Merriam Close, Brantham, near Manningtree, before becoming separated from a relative.
Decoy Pond in Brantham
Searches of Decoy Pond began earlier on Wednesday after police cordoned off the area with tape. The body was found in the pond as officers kept working through information gathered from CCTV and other available video footage, along with door-to-door checks and aerial and thermal imaging searches.
The search drew police, fire, coastguard and search and rescue teams, with hundreds of volunteers joining in hi-vis jackets. Search efforts were coordinated from the village hall and a leisure centre, while sniffer dogs and a helicopter were also deployed.
Tom Pearse statement
Pearse said, "this afternoon have sadly found a body of a child in Decoy Pond in Brantham". He also said, "We have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of public support and people putting on their boots to help us with this search".
Earlier on Wednesday, Pearse said there was no indication anything sinister had happened, but police later said the discovery was being treated as not suspicious but unexplained. Formal identification had yet to take place, and the coroner would be informed of the development.
Noah Woods next steps
Whether the body found in Decoy Pond is Noah Woods has not been confirmed, so the search now turns to identification and the coroner's process. For the family, the immediate reality is the same: the boy who was last seen on Tuesday afternoon is no longer simply missing from the list of search priorities, but at the center of a developing death inquiry.
