Woman, boy found dead in Boonton pond with crying child nearby

BOONTON — The bodies of a woman and her young son were found in a pond Tuesday evening after people encountered a crying child who had been left alone by his mother in a car at the park.

Speaking at Grace Lord Park on Tuesday night, Acting Morris County Prosecutor Robert Carroll said that police heard a 6-year-old calling out for his mother around 5:40 p.m.

Investigators saw footprints in the snow leading to the Upper Pond and found the 35-year-old woman and an 11-year-old boy dead in the water. The pond is fed by the Rockaway River, which flows through Grace Lord Park.

Officials later identified the mother as Warda Syed and the 11-year-old as Uzair Ahmed. They are not releasing the name of the surviving child.

The prosecutor did not say whether authorities knew how the woman and child ended in the water.

“It’s obviously a very sad day when children are involved in this type of situation. It’s a horrible situation,” Carroll said, adding that the 6-year-old was not harmed.

Some of the firefighters that responded to the scene were attending a viewing for longtime Boonton firefighter Michael Emerick at a funeral home near the park.

This article has been updated to include the names of the deceased. 

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ