First picture and tributes to 'beautiful' girl, 2, found dead in a pond

12 September 2023 , 16:44

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The young victim was named locally as Annabelle Mackey

Tributes have been paid to a “gorgeous and beautiful” two-year-old girl found dead in a village pond.

Detectives are continuing to quiz a woman in her 40s on suspicion of murdering the youngster, named locally as Annabelle Mackey. Police were called to the girl’s family home in Kingsley, Hampshire, on Sunday following reports she had vanished. Annabelle was found unconscious in Kingsley Pond a short time later and taken to hospital, where she died on Monday. Locals claimed to have heard an adult shouting “help me, help me” when she was discovered in the water. Devastated neighbours said little Annabelle enjoyed going for walks with her mum. She lived with her parents in a large £600,000 semi-detached house in the village.

Police arriving at the scene in Kingsley on Sunday (SWNS)

A neighbour said: “It’s absolutely terrible. We’ve met her, we always say hello. She used to say hi. At Halloween we get a lot of decorations around the house and Annabelle used to come in and look at the decorations. She was gorgeous, she was a beautiful little girl. Her mum was with her most of the time. We used to regularly see her and Annabelle walking around here. She [mum] would always be holding her hand. Quite often they’d walk up the Common because it's a beautiful place to walk.

Floral tributes left at Kingsley Pond where the youngster was found (SWNS)

“It's a shocker. We moved here simply because it's idyllic, we knew it was safe. This has shocked us to the core. The first we knew of it was when the police car pulled up. Within 20 minutes of the first car pulling up, this place was flooded with vans and police.” Another neighbour added: “We’re really upset. Annabelle was very, very quiet and shy. Whenever we saw her in the village she didn’t really speak, she gave us little smiles. She was a sweet little girl.” Heartbreaking floral tributes were left on Tuesday by locals at the pond, which was patrolled by police. Hampshire Police said a woman in her 40s who was arrested on suspicion of murder remains in custody.

Martin Fricker