'I am in Brantham where thousands came to search for little Noah — and humanity shone through'

'I am in Brantham where thousands came to search for little Noah — and humanity shone through' A massive search operation is underway in Brantham, Suffolk, supported by hundreds of volunteers in the desperate hunt to find three-year-old Noah Woods, who went missing after a visit to a playground Brantham is a village in shock today. Three-year-old Noah Woods going missing has stunned everyone. Most villagers were out looking for him last night as soon as they heard the news. But they had no idea what was going to happen this morning. At first strangers came in their tens, then their hundreds. And then their thousands. Everywhere you looked there swarms of people searching hedgerows, ditches and barns. There was so much traffic locals, not the police, organised a temporary one-way system to prevent gridlock. I met a woman visiting from the United States who felt she had to come to help. A man, from Colchester, Essex, walked nine miles in the surrounding fields before going to work at 9am. And another man from Ipswich brought his bloodhound Marshall to join the search. One local told me: “It is the very worst of days with Noah missing - but humanity has shone through today.” The playground where Noah went missing is sealed off now. The play equipment he was using around 24 hours ago stands unused. It was heartbreaking to see the blue merry-go-round he was happily playing on so recently. The path where he was last seen runs down to a very large, deep lake. Beyond it is a railway line - between Ipswich and London Liverpool Street, and then the River Stour. Suffolk Police believe they have searched all these and have found nothing. As I turned from the misleadingly named Decoy Pond, which is a large body of water, and looked across the vast tracts of parched farmland there were people everywhere. Many were in hi-vis jackets - orange and yellow - all prodding verges looking for Noah. Young men went up and down on quad bikes. Others went for a break and queued for a cup of tea outside The Crown pub - providing it free for volunteers. One of the people who gave up their time to search was Colleen Snyder, 65, who is over from the States for her sister’s 70th birthday celebrations but when she saw the news of his disappearance on TV she immediately came to the village to help. Colleen, from Hampton Beach, New Hampshire, said: “I just hope he’s found. It’s so sad. When I heard about the search I just felt I had to come and do my little bit to help. I’m staying in Felixstowe, which isn’t too far away.” Darren Debenham, 46, and his bloodhound Marshall rejoined the search shortly after 9am. They had been out looking until 4am before going back home to grab some sleep. When they woke they hoped Noah would have been found. Darren, from Ipswich who runs DK9 specialists search unit, told me: “But unfortunately he wasn’t so we are back out again. Hopefully Marshall can pick up his scent - we just hope we can find Noah. “We train dogs all over the world for this sort of situation.” The pair were heading down to the River Stour area to start looking again. I saw one man at 9am sitting on a bench sipping from a can of cola. He said: "I’ve been here since just after 5am. I’ve walked nine miles." "I’ve come from Colchester and I’ve got to leave to go to work now. Let’s hope the poor lad is found. I just wanted to do my bit." I spoke to one distraught woman on Pioneer Way - a street of new build houses on nearby Stour View. She asked not to be named but said: “We’ve only just moved in. This is just so distressing. We’re just praying he gets found soon.” The people of Brantham, Suffolk and the whole of Britain are certainly doing their very best to bring Noah back home to his family. The youngster, who is non-verbal, partially deaf and will not respond to his name if called, ran from the play area down an alleyway beside the playground towards a nearby new-build housing estate, it is thought. In an update on Wednesday, Superintendent Tom Pearse, from Suffolk Police, said: “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.”