Mother to be charged with attempted murder of son in Moama, younger boy missing
Updated
A woman is expected to be charged with attempted murder over the death of one of her sons at Moama, on the New South Wales-Victoria border, as police continue to search for his younger brother after an incident on the Murray River last night.
Key points:
- Police were alerted when a dog attacked the mother and the older boy in the water
- The family are from Deniliquin in NSW
- The mother turned herself in to Echuca police
The older son of the woman is in hospital as police continue to search for his younger brother, who is feared drowned in the Murray River.
Both boys are under ten years old.
Police said the mother, a Deniliquin woman in her 20s, took the boys to a property outside Moama yesterday at 4:00pm where they were fishing in the river.
A dog attacked the mother and older boy who then ran up to the banks of the river screaming, which alerted other people.
Moama police were then called to the scene and found the boy with serious dog bite injuries before learning his brother was missing.
Police divers have been searching for the younger boy today.
The ABC understands the dog that bit the boy was reacting to what was happening in the water and was not a family pet.
The older boy was taken to Echuca Hospital before being transported to the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne for treatment.
The mother turned herself into Echuca police last night and it is expected she will be extradited to New South Wales today.
Lawyer Dale Brooks, who is representing the grandmother of the boys, said the grandmother had approached government agencies several times with concerns about the woman but "they fobbed her off".
"A number of organisations ought to be held to account," Mr Brooks told the ABC.
Photo:
A helicopter searches for the boy feared drowned in the Murray River. (ABC News: Karen Percy)
The administrator of Edward River Council in Deniliquin, Ashley Hall, said the community was reeling as news came through.
"This has sent shockwaves, you've got a boy being operated [on] in Melbourne for dog bites and [a young boy] missing, you've got to hope for a miracle but it's not looking too promising at the moment," she said.
The search of the Murray River is being conducted by divers from Victoria Police as well as a NSW search and rescue team, the SES and the Rural Fire Service.
Topics: crime, murder-and-manslaughter, moama-2731
First posted
