A toddler died in a tragic double drowning during a family visit to a popular Texas lake during July 4 weekend. 

Emergency crews rushed to a residential pond in the Spring Lakes neighborhood of north Harris County, near Houston, at around 6pm on Sunday.

A 74-year-old woman was found unconscious near the edge of the lake. Rescuers then found the toddler in the water and launched a desperate attempt to save his life.

Both were rushed to hospital where they were later pronounced dead.

The pair were related and had disappeared while out for a walk together, police said. It is unclear exactly how they were related.

The child’s mother had taken the two-year-old to visit the elderly woman at her home earlier in the day.

Deputies said the little boy became restless while inside the house, prompting the older woman to offer to take him for a walk to a nearby park.

But when the pair failed to return, the concerned mother set out to search for them herself.

An elderly woman and two-year-old boy were pronounced dead after being pulled from a neighborhood pond in Northeast Harris County

Officials are still working to identify the victims and state the investigation is still active

Instead, she arrived at the pond to find emergency responders desperately performing CPR on her elderly relative. Moments later, her young son was pulled from the water as rescue crews fought to revive him.

The woman was taken to hospital in critical condition before being pronounced dead. The toddler was also transported to hospital but could not be saved.

Neighbor Agha Hussain was very distressed to hear of the news, as the residential area was normally a tranquil family friendly community

Investigators said the child’s mother told deputies her son may have been autistic, although authorities stressed it has not yet been determined exactly how the pair entered the water.

Major Ben Katrib of the Harris County Sheriff’s Office said detectives are carrying out a full investigation while attempting to piece together the family’s final movements.

Officers are reviewing surveillance footage from homes in the area and speaking with neighbors as they work to establish the circumstances surrounding the tragedy.

Katrib said investigators are taking a trauma-informed approach because the child’s mother is ‘naturally very distraught’ following the devastating double loss of both her son and elderly relative.

Neighbors described the incident as almost unimaginable in what they said is normally a quiet, family-friendly community.

Resident Agha Hussain, who frequently walks around the pond, told Click2Houston he had never witnessed anything like Sunday’s tragedy.

‘It’s a very heartbreaking thing. Never happened before over here,’ he told local television station KPRC 2, adding that additional safety barriers around the water could help prevent similar incidents in the future.

The heartbreaking deaths come amid a string of recent child drowning incidents across the Houston area during the Fourth of July holiday weekend, renewing concerns over water safety as families spend more time outdoors during the summer months.

Katrib also urged families to be especially cautious around water during the summer months.

‘Anything can happen in the blink of an eye,’ Katrib said. ‘Children should be supervised at all times.’

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, drowning remains one of the leading causes of accidental death among young children in the United States, with many incidents occurring quickly and silently in pools, ponds and other bodies of water.

The Harris County Sheriff’s Office said the investigation remains ongoing. Authorities have not indicated that they suspect any foul play.