LIEGE, Belgium, June 29 (UPI) -- Preliminary autopsy results Thursday indicated two abducted Belgian stepsisters found dead in Liege were strangled and one of them had been raped.
Nathalie Mahy, 10, and Stacy Lemmens, 7, went missing June 9, and their bodies were found not far from one another in large storm drains a half mile from where they were last seen.
There was evidence the older girl had been raped, The Guardian reported.
A suspect who is a convicted serial pedophile is in custody but denies any involvement. He went to police four days after the girls disappeared, and admitted to being near the shop where the girls were playing during a street party.
Expatica reported the man had scratches on his knees and arms, and the area where the girls were found has blackberry bushes and other scrub plants.
Investigators were performing DNA tests on evidence found on and around the bodies Thursday, the report said.
The girls are to be buried Saturday, The Guardian said.
