A THREE-HOUR search by emergency services and volunteers turned to tragedy on Monday afternoon when the body of a 21-month-old boy was found by a family friend in a small dam off Dunn Road, Hamilton, shortly after 1pm.

A search party involving around 60 people got underway after a call was made to triple zero at about 10.15am, advising that a toddler in a yellow jumpsuit had gone missing from a nearby property.