The father of a three-year-old boy who was found dead following a huge search has paid tribute to his son as the “sweetest and most innocent little boy, with nothing but love to give”.
Noah Woods became separated from a relative after visiting a playground in Merriam Close, Brantham, on Tuesday afternoon, Suffolk Police said.
Around 1,300 members of the public joined a search to find Noah, who police said was non-verbal and partially deaf.
Helicopters, the coastguard, fire and rescue service, lowland search and rescue volunteers and other agencies also joined police in the search.
More than 24 hours after his disappearance, police confirmed late on Wednesday afternoon that dive teams had recovered a child’s body from a lake known locally as Decoy Pond.
On Thursday, Noah’s father Rhys Woods paid tribute to his son in a message shared on a community Facebook group.
He wrote: “As I’m sure you have all seen, the body that was found in Decoy Pond is our little Noah.
“There are no words to describe the pain of this loss, we are all absolutely heartbroken, Noah was the sweetest and most innocent little boy, with nothing but love to give, and we are going to miss him so very much.”
He said Noah will be loved forever and never forgotten, adding: “It has been a privilege to be your parents and be able to have packed so much love in the short three years you were with us.”
He extended a “heartfelt thank-you to everyone… who came together to search for our boy”.
“It seems he has made an impact across the whole nation,” he said, adding that people appeared to have taken him into their own hearts “with all the overwhelming help”.
He continued: “The compassion shown by all of you will never be forgotten by us, and brought us comfort and strength at the darkest time of our lives.
“This was the most heartbreaking outcome for us, we were just hoping that he would be hiding somewhere obvious where someone could find him, that’s what we kept telling ourselves the whole time.”
He signed off his post: “With our love and deepest gratitude, from his daddy and mummy and little brother.”
Police said formal identification has yet to take place.
The discovery of the body is being treated as not suspicious but unexplained and the coroner will be informed, the force said on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, a JustGiving fundraising page set up to support Noah’s family has raised more than £42,000.
The fundraiser, set up by Good Dads Club, a community of fathers based in Colchester, Essex, aims to help with the family’s expenses and allow them “time off work to grieve without the added strain of financial worry”.
Matt Krishnan-Bird, of Good Dads Club, said: “It was very clear that thousands of people were looking for a similar outlet to show compassion, support and kindness, so we thought we would set this up.”
The fundraiser can he found at justgiving.com/crowdfunding/gooddadsclub.
