People from as far afield as Birmingham and Hampshire had turned up to help find Noah, who was from East Bergholt.
Helicopters, dog units and members of the public had been scouring the area, close to the River Stour on the Essex border.
Willis said it was “devastating” when news came that a body had been found.
“It was a moment of, in one sense, the news that you don’t want to hear and obviously, as time went on, it was the news we feared the most,” he said.
“Then immediately, while we all feel that deeply, we’ve got to then be thinking of Noah’s family for whom it is incomprehensible.”