Ipswich defender Leif Davis joins 1,300-strong search for missing toddler Noah Woods and donates £2,000 to family

Ipswich Town defender Leif Davis has been widely praised after joining a search party of more than 1,300 volunteers looking for missing three-year-old Noah Woods in Brantham, Suffolk, and donating £2,000 to a fundraiser supporting the boy’s family. Noah’s body was subsequently discovered in a lake known as Decoy Pond, and police confirmed the identification.

Noah had gone missing from a playground in Brantham at around 3pm on Tuesday after becoming separated from a relative. Davis, 26, is reported to have joined the search in the early hours of Wednesday morning, shortly after Ipswich’s Carabao Cup tie against Arsenal at Portman Road.

“Leif came down to help with the search straight after coming off the pitch,” one Ipswich supporter wrote on the Just Giving page set up by the ‘Good Dads Club’ in support of Noah’s family. “Top class fella. Respect to Ipswich Town.”

Davis’s £2,000 donation drew widespread praise on social media. “That’s an amazing thing to do,” one user posted on X, while another simply described him as “a lovely bloke.” The fundraiser has raised more than £71,000 in total.

Ipswich Town as a club also paid tribute on Thursday. Captain Dara O’Shea and goalkeeper Christian Walton laid a wreath at the playground where Noah was last seen, and the club announced players would wear black armbands for their upcoming fixtures.

“The thoughts of everyone at Ipswich Town are with the family and friends of Noah Woods at this tragic time,” the club said in a statement.

Noah’s father, Rhys, paid tribute to his son on Facebook. “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 wrote. “This was the most heartbreaking outcome for us — we were just hoping that he would be hiding somewhere obvious where someone could find him.”

Rhys added: “It seems he has made an impact across the whole nation. You have all taken Noah into your own hearts, with all the overwhelming help, we were all just trying to bring him home to us safe and sound.”

Ipswich are next in action away to Everton on Saturday, before hosting Fulham on 10 October after the international break.