JESUP — Two children in the care of their disabled grandmother drowned Wednesday afternoon in Wayne County, authorities said.

Wayne County Sheriff’s Office Detective Brandon Rozier said the children, a 5-year-old girl and a 3-year-old boy, were playing with their 6-year-old sister on Winding Way off Harrison Road, just north of the Jesup city limits, when the 6-year-old told the grandmother her younger siblings were lost shortly before 6 p.m. When pressed further, the child told her grandmother the children were in a pond behind the home. The grandmother, who is wheelchair-bound, called 911 and neighbors for help.  

Cpl. Randy Aspinwall of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources said firefighters recovered the children's bodies within 10 minutes of arriving at the pond.  

Rozier said the edge of the pond is shallow; however, there is a deep drop toward the center.

The children were taken to Wayne Memorial Hospital, where they were pronounced dead.