Mother and kids 'always on the go'

Flowers adorn the pathway to the house where the bodies of Melissa Dorward and her two daughters were found. Photo / Alan Gibson

A heavily pregnant Melissa Dorward had just moved her four children to a bigger house to make way for the new baby.

But the 31-year-old mother - whom one friend described as doting and "always on the go" - and her daughters, Keira Watson, 4, and Ellah Watson, 2, died the day the growing family shifted into their new Rockwood Place abode in the tiny Hawkes Bay village of Haumoana.

The cause of their deaths remains a mystery.

A neighbour said the children were excited about a new addition to their family and described them as "pretty little things" who were full of laughter.

Ms Dorward's seven-seater station-wagon, used to take her children to sports, school and playgroup, was yesterday still parked outside the new one-storey brick house. The preschoolers' two booster seats were in the back.

The letterbox, at the end of a long driveway, was yesterday surrounded by bunches of flowers with pink paper around them and a flax creation.

The remaining family will bury the trio on Saturday despite not knowing the cause of their deaths. Police are waiting for toxicology reports from the post mortem examinations, which could take weeks.

The mother and daughters were found dead on Sunday, but police say there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding the deaths and no weapons were found inside the house.

Ms Dorward's older children, brothers Caleb Watson, 11, and Sharn Watson, 9, were away from the house with their father - from whom she is believed to be separated - at the time of the deaths.

Kauri-Lee Katipa, a next-door neighbour at the family's former home on East St in the nearby settlement of Te Awanga, said Ms Dorward was a doting mother. "She was always off doing stuff with the kids, always on the go. The boys played rugby and she took the girls to playgroup."

Their father would pick the boys up most weekends, Ms Katipa said.

Her own children, 9-year-old Aquitania and 5-year-old Heath, would play with Ms Dorward's children for hours on the trampoline, PlayStation and in the driveway for ball games.

Ms Katipa, who has lived in East St for about two months, said she was not sure when Ms Dorward's fifth child was due, but she looked as if she was near delivery time. Ms Dorward told her she was keen to find a bigger place for the expanding brood.

"I know when we first moved here that was something she wanted to sort out. She was still in the district so the kids were still settled."

Ms Dorward's grieving immediate family have declined to talk about the tragedy, but in a death notice, relatives George and Bev Waerea and others wrote: "Suddenly taken before we could say goodbye. We love you and will miss you so very much."

The local playcentre, which the girls attended, also paid tribute to the family.

"We will miss the giggles, smiles, and good times together," it said.

Another read: "To our angels who have passed on, let the light forever shine on you."

A man, whose 4-year-old daughter attended kindergarten with the girls, said Ms Dorward seemed nice.

"We'd say 'gidday' to each other, and that was about it. I never thought anything was out of the ordinary."

Marty Hantz, the principal of Haumoana School, which the girls' older brothers attend, has said children will be offered counselling when they return to class on Monday after the holidays.

The 9-year-old daughter of a shopkeeper at the Haumoana Four Square attends the school and knew the younger boy, Sharn.

"She found out what happened when she went to the movies with a girlfriend," the shopkeeper said.

"I haven't talked to her about it. I don't want to push her. She may talk to the counsellor when she goes back to school."

A service for the three will be held at 11pm at the Saddles Function Centre in Hastings. Family have asked that instead of flowers, donations be made to the Te Awanga Kindergarten, which the girls attended.