Autopsies confirmed Tuesday that two toddlers found dead in a sewage pond after disappearing from their home drowned, and the coroner said there appeared to be no sign of foul play.
Jonah Payne, 3, and his 2-year-old sister, Nicole, were reported missing Saturday by their mother, who said they vanished after she went into another room. She said she found the front door open and the children gone.
Their bodies were found Monday in an algae-covered pond a few hundred yards down the road.
Autopsies found no significant injuries to the children’s bodies, said Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokesman John Bankhead. Warren County Coroner Paul Lowe said there appeared to be no foul play.
Authorities continued their investigation, reinterviewing family members and neighbors.
Parents ‘in shock and mourning’
“The parents are still very much in shock and mourning,” said family spokesman Jaye Jones. “They are only able to speak for a couple minutes at a time before being overcome with tears and sobbing.”
Earlier on the day of the youngsters’ disappearance, Nicole figured out how to unlock the front door and gate and left with Jonah, police said. A neighbor returned the children a half-hour later.
Neighbors on Tuesday visited the 1.5-acre pond, surrounded by a chain-link fence and fallen logs, and wondered how the children got in.
“It looks horrible,” Wylene Veaty said. “It must have been a hole or something for them to crawl through.”
