UK4 min(s) read
Police officers and community volunteers are conducting an extensive search for Noah Woods, a three-year-old child who disappeared from a park in Suffolk.
The toddler was last seen at a playground on Merriam Close in Brantham on Tuesday afternoon. Authorities reported that he became separated from a relative around 2:37PM.
Newly released surveillance footage captures the child playing on a merry-go-round shortly before his disappearance. Investigators believe he ran down an alleyway next to the playground, moving toward a nearby housing estate and a large body of water known as Decoy Pond.
Emergency services cordoned off the pond to search the area thoroughly.
Noah has curly red hair, partial hearing loss, and autism. He is non-verbal and was last seen wearing a white T-shirt featuring the character Bluey, shorts, and white trainers, though police reports also note he may be wearing black Vans sneakers with a white stripe.
Authorities confirmed that up to 1,000 volunteers have joined the active search efforts.
Suffolk Police stated that there is currently no evidence suggesting foul play. Investigators are treating the case as a missing person investigation while maintaining an open approach to all possibilities.
Superintendent Tom Pearse addressed the ongoing actions taken by law enforcement and requested specific support from the local public.
"It has now been around 24 hours since Noah was reported as missing to us and we are doing everything we can to find him," Superintendent Pearse said.
"We are extremely grateful for the support shown by the public. If you are helping please report into the co-ordination centre to ensure the search continues to be done in a systematic and co-ordinated fashion. This will ensure we can carefully plan and take account of people supporting the search.
"We politely ask people to avoid open waters and railways – these are areas that require specialist and professional expertise. We also ask that personal drones are not used as these can interfere with specialist search equipment. There may also be times when officers may need to restrict access to certain areas or move away from search locations.
"Please do not be offended if this happens; it is necessary to allow us to carry out our enquiries and search activity as effectively as possible. This is being treated as a missing person investigation at this stage and there is nothing to indicate anything sinister or any element of criminality has taken place although we keep an open mind as to the circumstances.
"We continue to call on local residents to please check your gardens, sheds and outbuildings, or any other place a child may have be hidden or sought shelter. Please also review CCTV or doorbell cameras, and for motorists travelling in and around Brantham to review any dashcam footage from 3pm yesterday."
Noah's father, Rhys, shared an update regarding the rescue efforts and asked the community to expand their radius. He clarified details surrounding his son's condition and expressed gratitude for the massive turnout of supporters helping the family.
"Thank every single one of you who have taken part in the search for our boy Noah. To clear things up because people really do make up their own stories, he is only mildly autistic and has partial hearing loss, he is fully capable of every day tasks," Rhys posted.
"We still have nothing, all the emergency services and all of you have shown how strong this community is, with people coming from far and wide (...). The emergency services are very confident that the high risk areas (Decoy pond, railway lines) are all clear.
"This means knowing our boy, he has gone even further, could I ask that all of you brilliant people out there today expand further if you are able to? Reference where I have outlined, and maybe even further than this, 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."
Authorities ask anyone with information or potential sightings to contact Suffolk Police immediately.
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