Together in death as in life

Melissa Dorward and daughters Ellah and Keira Watson. Photo / Supplied

A pregnant woman and her two small girls, found dead in their new Hawke's Bay home last week, lay together in a flower-adorned coffin at a moving farewell ceremony yesterday.

More than 400 friends and family members attended the service for Melissa Dorwood and her two daughters, four-year-old Keira Watson and two-year-old Ellah Watson at Saddles Function Centre in Hastings.

The single large coffin was adorned with flowers and surrounded by colourful balloons during a service described as a "celebration of life" for the doting mother and her two girls.

Melissa was described as a "beautiful" and "loving" person, a talented chef who was committed to her family. She was eagerly awaiting the birth of her fifth child, a son who she had already named Lucas.

The three bodies were found by a family member last Sunday at their home in Haumoana, near Hastings, which the family had moved into that morning.

Melissa's partner Jamie, and the couple's two older sons, Caleb and Sharn, are believed to have been away from the property at the time.

Post-mortem examination results, to be released in a few weeks, are expected to shed some light on how the trio died, and whether poison is a factor.

A statement released by police last week said the deaths were not being treated as suspicious and that no-one else was being sought in connection with their deaths.

Police said last night there had been no developments in the inquiry.

Melissa's parents, Neil and Linda Dorwood, both spoke at the service saying Melissa and their two granddaughters were keen to help Neil in his mechanics garage, mimicking each other "as sisters do".

Neil described his daughter as "the apple of my eye" and Linda talked tearfully of her granddaughters as "princess number one and princess number two".

Melissa's aunt, Sue, said: "Keira always had a huge smile on her face and carried around a little bag of makeup. She loved makeup." She said Ellah - known as "Ellah Bella" to her family - loved to copy her big sister.

Melissa's partner, Jamie, struggled to talk about Melissa during the ceremony but said he "can't believe what has happened", and promised to look after their sons.

Many others got up to speak about their memories of the trio, including three teachers at Te Awanga Kindergarten, which Keira attended. They said they could not imagine their classroom without "little Keira", who loved story time and would often take the books read in class away to read repeatedly at home.

Melissa's friends spoke of a woman who was destined to be two things - a mother and a chef.

"She got them both. She's a wonderful mother and a chef to everyone in the family."

Their bodies were taken yesterday to be buried at Mangaroa Cemetery.