Police in Suffolk have launched an urgent search for three-year-old Noah Woods, a non-verbal, partially deaf autistic boy who went missing from a playground in Brantham on Tuesday afternoon. He vanished down an alleyway after outpacing his grandfather, and by 5am on Wednesday there had still been no sightings, prompting hundreds of volunteers, emergency services and specialist search teams to continue the hunt through the night and into a second day.

Noah is described as white with curly ginger hair, and was last seen wearing a Bluey t-shirt, shorts and white trainers. Up to 1,000 local residents joined police, a Coastguard helicopter, dog units and thermal imaging cameras in searching the area, including Decoy Pond, woodland, gardens and outbuildings, while train services near Brantham were slowed as a precaution. Authorities have urged the public to search in pairs, wear high-visibility clothing, check their own properties thoroughly, and follow police instructions during specialist search operations.