A 71-year-old woman and her six-year-old grandson were found dead in a pond following land and air searches at Holywell village, near Castle Bytham, in Lincolnshire.

The boy's Leicestershire mother contacted authorities on Thursday evening, when her son didn't return home after spending the previous night at his grandmother's house.

When police arrived at the grandmother's Castle Bytham home around 9:20 p.m. Thursday, they found that the house was empty. A search was then conducted to find the elderly woman and her missing car. Officers located the vehicle around 10:45 p.m. near a duck pond in a village nearby, according to reports.

Metro reported that the grandmother's body was recovered from the water and she was declared dead at the scene after failed efforts to resuscitate her. Divers from Lincolnshire Police Underwater Search Unit recovered the boy's body around 4 a.m. Friday morning.

We don't believe this is suspicious. We believe this is a tragic accident, Detective Chief Inspector Dave Wood told the BBC. As you can imagine, the family are extremely upset at the loss of a mother and a son. The people of the area are also shocked by this tragic accident.

He also said officers are providing support to the family and working with a coroner to determine why the accident happened.

It is quite a remote location and not that many people would have visited there yesterday, he said. We are asking anyone who saw the lady or the boy at the lake or near the car to contact us.