The father of a two-year-old girl who was found floating in a village pond near the family’s home has paid tribute to his ‘pure and caring’ daughter.
Annabel Mackey was reported missing from her house in the Hampshire village of Kingsley on September 10 2023, sparking an urgent police search for the toddler.
She was tragically discovered a short time later lying in a pond half a mile away from her £600,000 family home.
The toddler – whose parents were named locally as Peter and Alice Mackey – passed away in hospital the next day.
A 42-year-old woman, who had been under investigation ever since on suspicion of murder at the time, is due to answer police bail today.
Mr Mackey today paid tribute to his daughter, releasing the statement: ‘Annabel was a beautiful, positive and very happy little girl. She had an incredibly pure and caring nature that we miss so much.
‘She loved story time, dogs and her dolly. She enjoyed singing songs and nursery rhymes and had a very sweet tooth.
‘Annabel loved to laugh, she brought so much happiness into our lives.
Annabel Mackey is pictured with her parents Alice and Peter Mackey before her tragic death
A 42-year-old woman, who had been under investigation ever since on suspicion of murder at the time, is due to answer police bail today
Police arriving at Kingsley Pond on September 12 after two-year-old Annabel was found and later died
‘She was dearly loved by her family and friends. Thank you to everyone who was a positive influence in her life. Please continue Annabel’s legacy by remembering her and caring for others as much as she did.
‘The world needs more people like Annabel to spread positivity and kindness.
‘Annabel, I love you so much, you are a shining star and you will be loved forever x.’
On the day of the tragedy, the alarm was raised in the village – near the town of Bordon – at around 5pm.
At the time of the tragedy, locals described hearing an adult shouting ‘help me, help me’ at the pond and then saw a casualty being put into an ambulance covered in blankets.
The following day police divers were seen searching the water.
A woman in her 40s was initially arrested on suspicion of murder and then detained under the Mental Health Act.
A married father-of-one who lived on the same road as the Mackey family said at the time that Annabel enjoyed looking at their Halloween decorations and walking with her mother.
On the day of the tragedy, the alarm was raised in the village – near the town of Bordon – at around 5pm
Police were called at 5.02pm on Sunday, September 10 2023, to a report of a two-year-old girl who had gone missing from her home
The middle aged man said: ‘The first we knew of it was when the police car pulled up. Within 20 minutes of the first car pulling up, this place was flooded with vans and police. This place was jammed.
‘The whole place was cordoned off and then basically we were asked by CID if we had any footage on our camera, which we do… There’s nothing, we can’t see the little one, the family, nothing.
‘We were quite worried at the same time, we’ve got a six year old girl.
‘But we’re not ignoring the fact a two year old has lost her life, it’s absolutely terrible.
‘We’ve met her, we always said hello, she used to say hi. At Halloween we get a lot of decorations around the house for our little one and Annabelle used to come in and look at the decorations.
‘She was gorgeous, she was a beautiful little girl. Obviously her mum was with her most of the time.
‘The family were here before we moved here. I don’t even know if they had a nanny or a babysitter, I just have no idea.
‘We used to regularly see Alice and Annabelle walking around here. Alice would always be holding her hand and quite often they’d walk up the Common because it’s a beautiful place to walk.
The toddler was found in Kingsley Pond (pictured) and was rushed to hospital in a serious condition where she later died
‘At the moment there’s a little bit of panic on our side, not knowing who that person [arrested] is.’
The neighbour said he has never seen police at the property before or on their road.
He also said he ‘didn’t hear a thing’.
‘The pond is nearly half a mile away from here’, he added.
He added: ‘It’s a shocker. We moved here simply because it’s idyllic, we knew it was safe.
‘This has shocked us to the core. We’ve made sure our daughter is not aware. When Annabelle popped round, our daughter would pop out and speak to her.’
A female neighbour at another address close to the Mackey’s home said at the time: ‘We’re really upset.
‘Annabel was very very quiet. Sometimes I used to walk past the garden and hear her crying, calling out mummy.
‘Whenever we saw her in the village she didn’t really speak, she gave us little smiles. She was a sweet little girl. She was very, very quiet and shy. Timid I would say.’
Heartbreaking floral tributes were left by locals at the village’s pond.
Charmayne Dennard, a promoter, visited the pond with friends to lay flowers. They threw sunflowers into the pond as a tribute.
Miss Dennard, a 28-year-old mother of two from nearby Bordon, said at the time: ‘It’s just so heartbreaking, I had to come and pay my respects.
‘That poor, poor little girl. You can’t imagine the pain her family must be going through.
‘The unknown is so scary, it’s frightening to think of what happened.’
Another villager said at the time they had heard an adult voice at the pond shouting ‘help me, help me’ around the time of the incident.
One woman also said: ‘There was about a dozen police cars in the pond’s car park afterwards, it was packed.
‘I saw them bring a trolley out with someone on covered in blankets but I couldn’t make out who it was or how old they were.
‘It looked like they had some kind of IV drip attached to them, like what you see in hospitals.
‘It was awful to see.’
An inquest into Annabel’s death is due to be held later this year.
