Authorities are working to identify two young girls but had not managed to do so as of Wednesday, March 4.

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The girls’ bodies were recovered on Monday, March 2 in a neighbourhood after a tip from a dog walker, police said.

Cleveland Police Chief Dorothy Todd said at on Tuesday that it was unclear how the girls died, but that their bodies had been there for some time.

The incident did not appear to match any active missing persons cases in the area, the police chief said.

“We are hoping to find answers,” she said. “This is a terrible, tragic situation.”

The Associated Press reported that one of the girls is believed to be aged between 8 and 13 years old, and the other between 10 and 14 years old.

A medical examiner’s office used preliminary DNA relationship testing to confirm that the two girls were half-sisters.

The office said further information would be released as it became available.