Pond drowning: Grandmother, 71, and grandson, 6, died 'feeding ducks' Laurence had been staying with his grandmother, a widower whose husband Firozali died in 1977 at the age of 35, in the village during the half-term holidays and had been due home on Thursday night. But his worried mother, Asmina, 41, understood to be a Land Registry civil servant, raised the alarm when they failed to arrive. She drove to her mother's house and found it empty at 9.20pm. Ground searches were launched and an RAF search and rescue helicopter was scrambled. There were no witnesses. Mrs Mullany's black fiat panda car was located within an hour and police found her body in the pond a short time later, near a grate over a sluice. Despite frantic attempts to resuscitate her, she was pronounced dead at the scene. Underwater search officers continued their search into the night and found the body of the little boy, who was known as Laurie, just before 4am. The pond is surrounded by a grass verge and a concrete platform is understood to be used for feeding the ducks. The lake, which stretches the length of the hamlet, is frequented by dozen of swans and ducks and is located on a local farm estate. It is understood the boy's 41 year-old father Kenneth, who is known as Vaughan, is originally from New Zealand and the family had just returned from a Christmas holiday visiting his relatives. The couple, who married in 2005, also have a 15 month-old daughter, Nancy and were described as "such good parents" who had "charming children." It is believed they were being comforted by friends away from their stone cottage. Neighbours Carol Spall, 73, and her partner Addison Wishalt, 73, described Laurence, as a "lovely little boy" who was a keen rugby player at his local Church of England Primary School. Mrs Spall said: "He was always an adventurous little boy. Everyone he met fell in love with him. We would see his little head peering over the garden wall, he always wanted to stop and have a chat. He endeared himself to everyone. Of all the people for it to happen to this is so horrendous, they were such a close loving family. He was such a cheeky little character I can't imagine how they will cope without him. Mr Wishalt added: "He was very intelligent and very articulate for his age. He was very keen on rugby and he told us he wanted to learn to play the violin. Holywell locals also paid tribute to the "fantastic," whose father was killed in action during the Second World War when she was three. Paul Thurman, 65, said his retired nursery worker neighbour was a "lovely, lovely lady." "She was a private person but was always keen to say hello and it was quite a shock, especially in the circumstances," he said. She lived on her own but she wasn't a lonely lady by any means. Muriel Cooke, the Castle Bytham Parish Council Clerk, said it was "shocking news for the village." She added: "She was a very nice lady, very cultured. She liked the ballet. Speaking at the scene, Det. Chief Insp. Dave Wood said there were no suspicious circumstances. "We believe one of the possible scenarios is that they were driving back to family ... and they stopped to feed the ducks," he said. A post mortem is due to take place on Monday.