Siblings aged 3 and 4 both found drowned in pond after wandering from home

‘Keep a close eye on your children’

A ‘No trespassing’ sign in Lake Hughes, California (KTLA5)

A homicide investigation is underway in northern Los Angeles County after two siblings, aged three and four, were found drowned in a pond after playing outside.

Deputies responded to a call in Lake Hughes, a community about 45 miles north of downtown Los Angeles, at about 7pm on Monday when the shock discovery was made.

In a statement on Tuesday night, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said the children had been playing outside and did not respond to calls.

“When the mother went to call them into the residence, she noticed the children were missing and began searching for them,” authorities said.

A neighbour also helped the family with the search around the 12-acre property before the children who were located, Fox11 reported.

“The mother located them inside a shallow pond which was within a close proximity to the residence,” and “retrieved” the pair from the pond, said the sheriff’s department.

Although CPR was performed at the scene, the children were unresponsive and were taken to hospital in Lancaster where both were pronounced dead on Monday night between 9 and 11pm.

Lt Charles Calderarom, told Fox11 : “Keep a close eye on your children. The pond was very shallow, but with small children like that, it could be a matter of seconds.”

An investigation is now ongoing and is being carried out by Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide investigators.