More than 100 people join search to find partially deaf boy, three, who went missing after visiting playground

More than 100 people have joined the search to find a three-year-old boy who went missing after visiting a playground in Suffolk. 

Noah Woods vanished after becoming separated from a relative in Merriam Close, Brantham, on Tuesday afternoon. 

The toddler, who is partially deaf, autistic and non-verbal, is understood to have run off down an alleyway towards a new-build housing estate, but is yet to have been found. 

Noah is described as white with curly ginger hair. He was wearing a Bluey t-shirt, shorts and white trainers when he went missing. 

Emergency services are searching the Brantham area in a bid to locate him, while residents have been urged to check their gardens, sheds and outbuildings. 

A Coastguard helicopter was seen circling the village, which is near the estuary of the River Stour. 

Passengers on trains between Manningtree and Ipswich were told that their services would be run at a reduced speed because of the searches. 

Volunteers who joined the hunt have now been told to go home for the night and rest. Brantham Parish Council confirmed that emergency services would continue in their search for Noah. 

Anyone who believes they may have found Noah is asked to contact Suffolk Police.

A statement read: ‘Police are appealing for help to locate a missing three-year-old boy in Brantham.

‘Noah was last seen at approximately 3pm this afternoon, Tuesday 15 September, when he became separated from a relative after visiting the playground in Merriam Close.

‘Noah is reported to have run off down the alleyway beside the playground towards the new build housing estate.

‘Noah is described as white, with curly ginger hair. He is wearing a white Bluey t-shirt, shorts and white trainers.’

A spokesman for HM Coastguard said: ‘We are assisting Suffolk Constabulary with an incident at Brantham by sending an HM Coastguard helicopter and Coastguard Rescue Teams from Felixstowe and Holbrook.’