UPDATE: Friday – 7/5/2013, 2:16pm ET
WASHINGTON – Prince William County police have identified the mother and daughter who drowned in the Montclair area of the county on July 4.
They are Grace Darlene Shields, 40, of Montclair and Raina Alexandra Shields, 6.
EARLIER: Friday – 7/5/2013, 10:14am ET
WASHINGTON — A mother and daughter drowned in Virginia on July 4 in an incident apparently witnessed by another child.
Around 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, a resident in the Montclair area of Prince William County found a 9-year-old screaming at the top of a walkway leading down to Lake Montclair, police say.
The neighbor took the child and waited for the child’s family to get home. When the family didn’t return, police were called to the 15500 block of Royal Crescent Court at about 11:15 p.m.
Authorities canvassed the area on foot and in a helicopter after determining three people lived at the child’s home, two of whom were missing.
Early Friday morning, the police SCUBA team found the bodies of a 40-year-old woman and her 6-year-old daughter close to the dock near the child’s home.
The 9-year-old was placed in Child Protective Services until a family member could assume care.
Police did not say what led to the drowning and it’s unclear why the pair was in the water.
Police have not identified the victims as family notification is pending.
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