Aussie authorities find body of boy allegedly drowned by mother

The body of a five year old boy, allegedly drowned by his mother, has been found.

Authorities searching for the missing five-year-old boy since Thursday on the Murray River, which runs across the border of Victoria and New South Wales (NSW), found his body on Saturday morning.

The 27-year-old mother, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, handed herself in to Victorian Police late on Friday night and was extradited to New South Wales (NSW) where she was charged with one count of attempted murder with more charges expected to follow.

Prosecutors will allege that the woman was fishing with her two sons, aged nine and five years old respectively, on the Murray River on Thursday.

It is alleged that she asked her nine-year-old son to wade out into the water where she attempted to drown him before doing the same with the five-year-old.

The older son managed to escape but was mauled by a nearby dog, the owner of which claims it was trying to save him.

He was taken to a nearby hospital where he underwent surgery for the injuries caused by the dog but is expected to make a full recovery.

Emergency service workers who discovered the body on Saturday broke down while describing what they found.

"He was so little, it was awful, the whole thing has been awful, and everyone here Is devastated," one of the workers told local newspaper the Riverine Herald on Saturday.

The woman reportedly picked the boys up from their grandparents, who they lived with for the past 18 months while the woman was in prison, from Deniliquin in NSW on Wednesday.

Witnesses of the incident said they heard the mother say that she "had to drown her babies."

Victoria Police's Detective Sergeant Trent Swinton told a Victorian court on Friday that the woman had made a full admission to her role in the incident and had told police of her "intention to kill both children." Endit