GALLERY: Photos from the scene of tragic double drowning at Holywell
INVESTIGATIONS continue into the circumstances surrounding the deaths of a grandmother and her grandson at the idyllic village of Holywell, near Castle Bytham.
Lincolnshire Police received a call from a concerned parent at around 9.20pm yesterday (Thursday, February 16), expressing concern for the welfare of her 6-year-old son and her 71-year-old mother.
Police attended the woman’s address in Castle Bytham. No-one was there and a search began for the missing persons and the car owned by the grandmother.
The grandson had gone to spend the previous night with his grandmother and they were due to return home on Thursday evening.
Ground searches were begun and an RAF search and rescue helicopter was called in to assist.
At about 10.45pm officers found the car close to a duck pond at Holywell village near Castle Bytham.
Soon afterwards the body of a woman, thought to be in her seventies, was recovered from the pond.
Despite efforts to resuscitate the woman she was certified as deceased at the scene.
The search continued into the night and the body of the boy was recovered just before 4am today (Friday) by members of the underwater search team.
The circumstances surrounding the deaths are being investigated and post mortems will be carried out in due course. Formal identifications will not be concluded until Monday.
One neighbour who joined the search after police knocked on his door and drove around for about half an hour said: “I was really shocked and stunned and very upset.
“She’s been our neighbour ever since we moved here. She was a fantastic person.
“She was great with kids and loved them to bits. She was a fantastic neighbour and could not do enough to help us out with anything.”
David King, 49, who lives in Pinfold Road in the village said: “We drive past the pond on the way to go shopping and it’s such a lovely area. They’ve been dredging it for the past six months. They have just planted some new trees and a lot of people go there to feed the geese.
“It’s very tragic.”
Det Chief Insp David Wood said: “At the moment we believe this is a tragic accident.
“Initial inquiries show there were no witnesses so it’s not possible to say how this has occurred.
“There is no information indicating this is suspicious and we are continuing the investigation today.”
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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