CLEVELAND — New details released by the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner reveal a connection between the two girls whose bodies were found in suitcases in a Cleveland neighborhood on Monday.
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DNA confirmed that the girls are half-siblings, WOIO, a CBS affiliate in Cleveland, reported.
The girls have not been positively identified at this time.
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As previously reported, a person was out walking their dog Monday evening when they found what appeared to be a body in a suitcase in the city’s South Collinwood neighborhood.
When officers got there, they found the body in a suitcase in a shallow grave.
As they searched the area, officers found what appeared to be a second shallow grave with a suitcase in it. A second body was found inside it.
In a media briefing on Tuesday, Todd said the bodies were those of two juvenile girls. One is estimated to be between 8 and a half and 13 years old, while the other is believed to be between the ages of 10-and-a-half and 14.
There’s no initial indication of the cause of death for either girl.
Todd added that police don’t know how long they had been there, but that it had been “some time.”
There are no missing children’s cases in the city that match the description of the victims, but detectives are checking with state and federal partners.
The case remains under investigation, but police added that there’s no indication of an ongoing threat to public safety.
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