Police: Elderly woman drowns near home

The people who lived near 84-year-old Muoi Nhi Trinh in the Castleton section of Virginia Beach say they saw her walk everyday down to the edge of the pond behind her house, where she lived with her daughter and grandchildren.

"She would go and water her plants every morning and get the water from the lake," said Trinh's neighbor Jack Harper.

On Tuesday morning, Trinh went to the edge of the pond to fetch some water for her flowers and vegetables.

But this time, Trinh's family tried to stop her, said a painter doing work at the family's house.

"I turn around and she's walking that way and they are saying, 'No! No! No!'" said the painter.

Something happened at the edge of that pond and moments later Trinh's daughter spotted her mother floating in the middle of the pond.

"I just heard her daughter scream, 'Mom! My Mom! My Mom!'" recalled another neighbor.

The woman's screams for her mother alerted other neighbors.

"My neighbor said, 'There's a body in the lake!'" said Harper.

Police, fire and rescue personnel rushed to the scene, but it was too late to save the woman.

"When fire, EMS and police responded they did see what appeared to be a body in the waterway. The Fire department boat was able to go out and recover the body," said Margie Long with the Virginia Beach Police Department.

Police also found Trinh's hat and her water pail floating at the edge of the pond. They gave final confirmation to Trinh's daughter that her elderly mother had in fact drowned.

"I feel sad for her," said Harper of Trinh's daughter. "Her mother was the rock of the family and she was a nice lady."

Police say they do not believe there was any foul play involved in the drowning, it was just a terrible accident.