The mum of a four-year-old girl mauled to death by her family's own dog is said to be "beyond heartbroken".
Locals gathered to mourn the loss of the youngster, named locally as Alice Stones, at a church near to the Milton Keynes house last night.
Police were called to the home by the ambulance service on Tuesday evening and the child died at the scene.
The end-of-terrace home remained cordoned off by police tape yesterday, with flowers and soft toy tributes piled up on the pavement.
Thames Valley Police said no arrests have been made and that investigators are working to establish the breed of the dog, which one neighbour believed to be a pitbull-husky cross.
The animal was shot by armed police who rushed to the scene.
Witnesses told how Alice's mum, Louise Stones, ran from her house screaming “she’s dead, she’s dead” after seeing the horrific attack.
A friend of Louise told the Mirror: “She is beyond heartbroken. Her world has fallen apart. Alice was everything to her.”
A resident told how she heard Alice’s harrowing screams as she was being attacked. She said: “They’ll stay with me for ever. It was a nightmare. I’m heartbroken. They will haunt me."
Louise was last night being comforted by her mum Karen Hallewell, 56.
Neighbour Rita Matthews, 36, said she would see the child while walking her own daughter to school and described the youngster as a "happy little girl, very happy".
Among floral tributes left to the youngster, one of them read: "Alice!! Fly high with the angels little one. The whole community will miss your smile.
"Our thoughts are with the whole family, especially her mum."
Around 100 people turned out to a vigil that had been organised at Grand Union Vineyard Church, Netherfield Campus, across the road from the house on Wednesday evening.
Prayers were said for the family as people gathered, holding candles, in the darkness in a green space at the rear of the place of worship.
There were moments of reflection as music was played over speakers, including Amazing Grace and Over The Rainbow.
Donna Fuller, a ward councillor for Woughton Community Council, said the area has a "tight-knit community, predominantly families".
She said the vigil was to "enable the community to come together and draw strength from each other", adding: "It will send a strong message to the family that we are thinking of them."
She said there is "such a sense of shock" and it is an "awful situation".
She told gathered crowds: "This family will need the time and space to allow them to process this tragic event and I hope that we can do that and help them in the future. I would ask that we support each other.
"There is a feeling of deep sadness that we will feel as a community so I ask you to be neighbourly and I ask you to be supportive and most of all I ask you to be kind."
Giving an update earlier on Wednesday, Superintendent Marc Tarbit said that the child's family are being supported by specially trained officers.
"An investigation is currently under way to fully understand the circumstances but we currently believe that this was a tragic, isolated incident and there is no threat to the wider community," he said.
"Accordingly, no arrests have been made at this time.
"I can confirm that the dog was a family pet and was put down by police on the scene yesterday evening."
Police said there will be an increased presence of officers in the area with "reassurance patrols during early shifts and late shifts".
