Local News

Community mourns ‘loving and affectionate’ girl, 6, who died after falling into frozen pond in Norton

Josephine Pinto “loved to do puzzles; loved stacking things & climbing things; loved to swing on her swing in the backyard; and she loved watching her favorite movie ‘Frozen’, sometimes even multiple times in a day.”

January 22, 2025

2 minutes to read

A 6-year-old girl died Friday after submerging in a partially-frozen pond close to her Norton home.

Josephine “Josie” Pinto lived with her parents, John Pinto and Patricia Sweeney, and her twin sister Rose, according to a GoFundMe page for the family.

Her obituary page described her as being a “loving & affectionate child” with an affinity for her schooling at L. G. Nourse Elementary School. She “even loved riding to school in that ‘big yellow school bus.'”

“She loved to do puzzles; loved stacking things & climbing things; loved to swing on her swing in the backyard; and she loved watching her favorite movie ‘Frozen’, sometimes even multiple times in a day,” her obituary said. “She also loved eating apples & Portuguese rolls.”

Both sisters were diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder before their 3rd birthday and, with Sweeney’s 21 years of special education experience, were able to access all the necessary resources available to them, such as education and behavioral therapy, the GoFundMe page noted.

The page, which has amassed nearly $80,000 in donations, also stated that the girls “lacked the sense of safety and awareness that is present in same-aged children.”

“With a large pond in their backyard, John and Tricia diligently safeguarded their entire home to keep the girls safe,” the organizer of the page explained. “However, on January 17, 2025, in the blink of an eye, Josie bolted out the back door of their home likely, drawn to the partially frozen pond. Within minutes, Josie was gone.”

Multiple police departments and agencies responded to help find the missing girl. Within 12 minutes of searching Barrowsville Pond and Wading River, Josephine was found and transported to Sturdy Memorial Hospital where she was pronounced dead, according to a statement from Norton Police Department.

A vigil was held Monday evening for Josephine, with nearly 100 gathered outside of St. Mary’s Church in Norton, Boston 25 News reported.

“I want to first-of-all thank everyone in our community who stepped up and showed us so much love,” Josephine’s father said at the vigil, according to Boston 25. “All the messages from all our children’s teachers, all the bus drivers, the police officers, and the firemen who worked so diligently to try to find my baby.”

Josephine’s funeral will be held Friday at Edwards Memorial Funeral Home in Milford, followed by a service at St. Mary of the Assumption Church and the burial at St. Mary’s Cemetery.