Two adolescent lads have been detained on suspicion of murdering an elderly woman who died after she was robbed in her own house.
Concerned family members discovered Joy Middleditch, 82, on the floor of her end-of-terrace cottage in Pakefield, Suffolk, on Saturday.
A short distance further in Nelson Road, her stolen handbag was found.
She claimed to have heard a commotion at the door before two masked guys barged in and knocked her to the ground while speaking to her relatives and afterwards police officials.
Police said Ms Middleditch is thought to have been attacked between the evening of Friday March 24 and the early hours of Saturday March 25.
The pensioner was found conscious and breathing but was in a serious condition and was taken to the James Paget University Hospital in Gorleston, Norfolk.
She died there in the early hours of Monday.
A Suffolk Police spokesman said: ‘Officers have been pursuing numerous lines of inquiry and today, Friday March 31, arrested two males in connection with the incident.
‘A 15-year-old boy and a 14-year-old boy, both from the Lowestoft area, were arrested on suspicion of murder and taken to Martlesham Police Investigation Centre for questioning.’
A Home Office post-mortem examination was carried out on Monday but the cause of death is yet to be confirmed, pending further investigation, the force said.
Ms Middleditch’s family said in an earlier statement released through police: ‘Joy was a strong, determined character who loved life and her dog.
‘She was a loving person who was sadly taken from us too soon.’