They said they went with NSW police to the mother’s house on Thursday — the day after an unidentified body had been found nearby — and were told the child was with the Department of Community Services. On Saturday night, four days after his body was pulled from a pond in Ambarvale, in southwest Sydney, [DEAN]’s mother, Rachel Pfitzner, 26, was charged with his murder.

The child’s grandfather, Edmund Capan, cried as he said: “It shouldn’t have happened.”

“He called (his grandmother) Ann `Mum’, he called me `Mum’, he called his aunt `Mum’,” Mr Capan said. “He was happy and well cared for. He never wanted for anything.”

DEAN Shillingsworth, the two-year-old boy whose body was found in a suitcase in a Sydney pond, was at the centre of a tug-of-love between his mother and grandparents, and child welfare authorities had been warned he was at risk.

The child’s paternal grandparents said yesterday he had been living with them in Tamworth, in northeastern NSW, until June, when he failed to return after a stay with his mother, who is on parole.

They said they went with NSW police to the mother’s house on Thursday — the day after an unidentified body had been found nearby — and were told the child was with the Department of Community Services. On Saturday night, four days after his body was pulled from a pond in Ambarvale, in southwest Sydney, Dean’s mother, Rachel Pfitzner, 26, was charged with his murder.

The Seven Network reported last night that police would allege the child was shaken to death up to 10 days before his body was found.

Ms Pfitzner was refused bail yesterday but did not enter the courtroom at the hearing. She was remanded in custody and will return to court in December.

Relatives of the boy, who gave The Australian written permission to publish his identity, gathered at Mandurama Reserve to pay their respects to the child, who they described as “like any other little tyke”.

The child’s grandfather, Edmund Capan, cried as he said: “It shouldn’t have happened.”

Mr Capan described Dean as “a good boy, he was happy-go-lucky”.

“He called (his grandmother) Ann `Mum’, he called me `Mum’, he called his aunt `Mum’,” Mr Capan said. “He was happy and well cared for. He never wanted for anything.”

NSW Minister for Community Services Kevin Greene confirmed yesterday that the family was known to his department, although his office refused to confirm if any action was taken after a warning was received by its Helpline.

“It must be emphasised that families known to the department often have complex relationships such as different surnames or multiple parents,” Mr Greene said.

He has ordered an internal review of all information the department has on Dean’s family, which will run in parallel with an investigation by the NSW Ombudsman’s office of the handling of the case.

A spokeswoman for Mr Greene said Helpline had only 190 caseworkers to deal with the 241,003 calls, relating to 109,500 children, in 2005-06.

The most recent available figures, from 2005, show the NSW Ombudsman reviewed the deaths of 109 children after they or their siblings had been the subject of a report to DOCS in the previous three years.

A highly critical Ombudsman’s report from last November said: “We continue to be concerned that some cases are closed without assessment, despite reports indicating the possibility that children were at risk. In some cases, we found that closure without assessment occurred where DOCS records indicated a significant child protection history.”

Neighbours of Ms Pfitzner said they believed she had an unhappy relationship with the boy’s father, from whom she had separated.

One neighbour, who gave her name as Lyndal, said Dean “always looked sad, but we just thought he was missing (his grandparents)”.

After her arrest on Saturday, police accompanied Ms Pfitzner to the pond, where angry residents yelled and tried to surround the car she was in.

Police returned yesterday to continue a search of Ms Pfitzner’s home in Rosemeadow, a little over a kilometre from where Dean’s body was found, while her partner was interviewed by police but released without charge.

Documents tendered in the court showed Ms Pfitzner was on parole.

Family friend Nicole Mills said Dean was a solitary, withdrawn child. “He was a real little cherub, he was just sweet, a very quiet little boy,” she said.