Body found in search for missing three-year-old Noah Woods

Title: Body found in search for missing Suffolk boy Noah Woods, 3

URL Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm93v1573vqro?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss

Published Time: 2026-09-16T16:54:22.929Z

Markdown Content:

[Skip to content](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm93v1573vqro?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss#bbc-main)

[Watch Live](https://www.bbc.co.uk/watch-live-news/)

[](https://www.bbc.co.uk/)

Subscribe

[Sign In](https://session.bbc.com/session?userOrigin=BBCS_BBC&ptrt=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.com%2Fnews%2Farticles%2Fcm93v1573vqro%3Fat_medium%3DRSS%26amp%3Bat_campaign%3Drss)

• [Home](https://www.bbc.co.uk/)

• [News](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news)

• [Sport](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport)

• [Business](https://www.bbc.co.uk/business)

• [Technology](https://www.bbc.co.uk/technology)

• [Health](https://www.bbc.co.uk/health)

• [Culture](https://www.bbc.co.uk/culture)

• [Arts](https://www.bbc.co.uk/arts)

• [Travel](https://www.bbc.co.uk/travel)

• [Earth](https://www.bbc.co.uk/future-planet)

• [Audio](https://www.bbc.co.uk/audio)

• [Video](https://www.bbc.co.uk/video)

• [Live](https://www.bbc.co.uk/live)

• [Documentaries](https://www.bbc.co.uk/video/docs)

Site search

[Home](https://www.bbc.co.uk/)

News

[Sport](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport)

Business

Technology

[Health](https://www.bbc.co.uk/health)

Culture

Arts

Travel

Earth

Audio

Video

Live

Documentaries

[Weather](https://www.bbc.com/weather)

[Newsletters](https://www.bbc.com/newsletters)

[Watch Live](https://www.bbc.co.uk/watch-live-news/)

Body found in search for missing Noah Woods, 3

25 minutes ago

Share

Save

[Add as preferred on Google](https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=bbc.com)

Shivani Chaudhari and

Lewis Adams

Family handout

Noah Woods was described as looking "happy and healthy" by one of the last people to see him

A body has been found in the search for missing three-year-old boy Noah Woods, police have confirmed.

Noah disappeared at about 15:00 BST on Tuesday from a playground in Brantham, Suffolk, after becoming separated from a relative.

Supt Tom Pearse of Suffolk Police said dive teams recovered the body of a child from a nearby pond.

He said the death was being treated as unexplained but not suspicious.

CCTV footage shows the last sighting of Noah at the playground

Supt Pearse said formal identification had yet to take place, but Noah's family had been informed.

"Our thoughts are with Noah's family and all those who knew him," he said.

"We have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of public support and people putting on their boots to help."

Police said at least 1,300 members of the public had helped in the search for the missing boy, who was non-verbal and partially deaf.

People from as far afield as Birmingham and Hampshire had turned up to help.

Helicopters, dog units and members of the public had been scouring the area, close to the estuary of the River Stour on the Essex border.

Volunteer efforts had been co-ordinated from Brantham Leisure Centre and the village hall, which ran out of hi-vis vests due to the number of volunteers.

Those looking for Noah had been told he would not respond to shouting.

PA Images

Supt Tom Pearse of Suffolk Police said: "Our thoughts are with Noah's family and all those who knew him"

Michael Crowley, who was working opposite the playground on Tuesday and was one of the last people to see Noah before he went missing, said: "He looked happy and healthy as anything."

Jessica Gammons, a mother-of-two from Kelvedon, in Essex, was among the many volunteers who went out to look for the toddler.

She said she felt compelled join the search, despite being heavily pregnant, because her son, like Noah, is three years old.

"I kept thinking to myself 'If this was my son, I'd want everyone possible to help,'" she said.

"It's such a sad situation. I can't stop thinking about him."

![Image 4: Charlie Jones/BBC A woman with long blonde hair and sunglasses on her head standing behind her two children. One is in a pushchair and the other one is standing up.

There are people sitting on a bench behind her and another man wearing a orange hi-vis jacket](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/200c/live/04e76880-b1fe-11f1-a4a7-291ff3d1006b.png.webp)Charlie Jones/BBC

Jessica Gammons, a mother of two, was among the volunteers who helped in the search

Searches had widened to include East Bergholt and Manningtree, over the Essex border, on Wednesday.

Divers from the Metropolitan Police were called in to search Decoy Pond, a nearby fishing lake.

The pond is about 350 yds (320m) away from the playground where Noah was last seen.

PA Media

Police said at least 1,300 members of the public had joined emergency services in the search for the missing boy

Google

Supt Pearse continued: "Since Noah was reported as missing, a vast number of our officers and staff have been deployed in numerous functions in the search for Noah and support for his family.

"We've been supported by Suffolk HART (Hazardous Area Response Team), SULSAR (Suffolk Lowland Search and Rescue), Environment Agency, HM Coastguard, Fire and Rescue Service and the ambulance service.

"As a parent myself, I completely understand why people would want to help and such a response is one that typifies the strong sense of community and the heart-warming nature of Suffolk people that make the county such a special place.

"I am sure you appreciate the family now need time, space and privacy and I thank you for your understanding in this."

More on this story

[Search continues for boy, 3, missing from playground](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cr5yev2v1x29o)

Related internet links

[Suffolk Police](https://www.suffolk.police.uk/)

• * *

[](https://www.bbc.co.uk/)

• [Home](https://www.bbc.com/)

• [News](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news)

• [Sport](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport)

• [Business](https://www.bbc.co.uk/business)

• [Technology](https://www.bbc.co.uk/technology)

• [Health](https://www.bbc.co.uk/health)

• [Culture](https://www.bbc.co.uk/culture)

• [Arts](https://www.bbc.co.uk/arts)

• [Travel](https://www.bbc.co.uk/travel)

• [Earth](https://www.bbc.co.uk/future-planet)

• [Audio](https://www.bbc.co.uk/audio)

• [Video](https://www.bbc.co.uk/video)

• [Live](https://www.bbc.co.uk/live)

• [Documentaries](https://www.bbc.co.uk/video/docs)

• [Weather](https://www.bbc.com/weather)

• [BBC Shop](https://shop.bbc.com/)

• [BritBox](https://www.britbox.com/?utm_source=bbc.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=footer)

BBC in other languages

The BBC is in multiple languages

Read the BBC In your own language

[BBC News Brasil](https://www.bbc.com/portuguese)

[BBC News Mundo (Spanish)](https://www.bbc.com/mundo)

[BBC News မြန်မာ (Burmese)](https://www.bbc.com/burmese)

[BBC News 中文 (Chinese)](https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp)

[BBC News Indonesia](https://www.bbc.com/indonesia)

[BBC News 코리아 (Korean)](https://www.bbc.com/korean)

[BBC News ไทย (Thai)](https://www.bbc.com/thai)

[BBC News Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)](https://www.bbc.com/vietnamese)

[BBC News Azərbaycanca (Azeri)](https://www.bbc.com/azeri)

[BBC News Magyarul (Hungarian)](https://www.bbc.com/magyarul)

[BBC News Кыргыз Кызматы (Kyrgyz)](https://www.bbc.com/kyrgyz)

[BBC News Polska (Polish)](https://www.bbc.com/polska)

[BBC News România (Romanian)](https://www.bbc.com/romania)

[BBC News Русская служба (Russian)](https://www.bbc.com/russian)

[BBC News na srpskom (Serbian)](https://www.bbc.com/serbian/lat)

[BBC News Україна (Ukrainian)](https://www.bbc.com/ukrainian)

[BBC News O'zbek (Uzbek)](https://www.bbc.com/uzbek)

[BBC News عربي (Arabic)](https://www.bbc.com/arabic)

[BBC News فارسی (Persian)](https://www.bbc.com/persian)

[BBC News Türkçe (Turkish)](https://www.bbc.com/turkce)

[BBC News বাংলা (Bengali)](https://www.bbc.com/bengali)

[BBC News دری (Dari)](https://www.bbc.com/dari)

[BBC News ગુજરાતી (Gujarati)](https://www.bbc.com/gujarati)

[BBC News हिन्दी (Hindi)](https://www.bbc.com/hindi)

[BBC News मराठी (Marathi)](https://www.bbc.com/marathi)

[BBC News नेपाली (Nepali)](https://www.bbc.com/nepali)

[BBC News සිංහල (Sinhala)](https://www.bbc.com/sinhala)

[BBC News پښتو (Pashto)](https://www.bbc.com/pashto)

[BBC News ਪੰਜਾਬੀ (Punjabi)](https://www.bbc.com/punjabi)

[BBC News Afaan Oromoo](https://www.bbc.com/afaanoromoo)

[BBC News አማርኛ (Amharic)](https://www.bbc.com/amharic)

[BBC News Afrique (French)](https://www.bbc.com/afrique)

[BBC News Hausa](https://www.bbc.com/hausa)

[BBC News Gaelic NAIDHEACHDAN](https://www.bbc.com/naidheachdan)

[BBC News Ìgbò](https://www.bbc.com/igbo)

[BBC News Japanese 日本語](https://www.bbc.com/japanese)

[BBC News Gahuza](https://www.bbc.com/gahuza)

[BBC News Pidgin](https://www.bbc.com/pidgin)

[BBC News Somali](https://www.bbc.com/somali)

[BBC News Swahili](https://www.bbc.com/swahili)

[BBC News தமிழ் (Tamil)](https://www.bbc.com/tamil)

[BBC News తెలుగు (Telugu)](https://www.bbc.com/telugu)

[BBC News ትግርኛ (Tigrinya)](https://www.bbc.com/tigrinya)

[BBC News اردو (Urdu)](https://www.bbc.com/urdu)

[BBC News Yorùbá](https://www.bbc.com/yoruba)

[BBC News World Service](https://www.bbc.com/ws/languages)

Follow BBC on:

• [Terms of Use](https://www.bbc.com/pages/terms-of-use)

• [Subscription Terms](https://www.bbc.com/pages/subscription-terms)

• [About the BBC](https://www.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc)

• [Privacy Policy](https://www.bbc.com/pages/privacy-policy)

• [Cookies](https://www.bbc.com/usingthebbc/cookies/)

• [Accessibility Help](https://www.bbc.co.uk/accessibility/)

• [Contact the BBC](https://www.bbc.co.uk/contact)

• [Advertise with us](https://advertising.bbcstudios.com/)

• [Do not share or sell my info](https://www.bbc.com/usingthebbc/cookies/how-can-i-change-my-bbc-cookie-settings/)

• [BBC.com Help & FAQs](https://help.bbc.com/hc/)

• [Content Index](https://www.bbc.com/pages/content-index)

• [Set Preferred Source](https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260128-how-to-make-google-put-trusted-sources-up-top-when-you-search)

Copyright 2026 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.[**Read about our approach to external linking.**](https://www.bbc.com/editorialguidelines/guidance/links-and-feeds)