Bodies of missing girls identified

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EVANSDALE, Iowa, Dec. 11 (UPI) -- The Iowa medical examiner's office confirmed two bodies found in a park are those of two missing cousins, Lyric Cook-Morrissey and Elizabeth Collins.

Forensic identification confirmed the identity of the bodies Monday though Black Hawk County police had said Thursday they were confident they had found the girls after a hunter discovered the bodies about 25 miles north of Evansdale, Iowa.

The two girls had not been seen since they went on a bicycle ride July 13. Their bikes were found near Meyers Lake, but an extensive search through the countryside and examination of car trunks and seats found no sign of them.

Lyric was 10 and her cousin 8 at the time of their disappearance.

Late Wednesday, Elizabeth's mother, Heather Collins, posted a statement on Facebook saying there were two possible outcomes to the search for her daughter, "unfortunately this is not the one that we wanted," ABC News reported.

Black Hawk County Sheriff's Capt. Rick Abben did not indicate how long the bodies might have been in the park and did not say what the cause of death might have been, The Des Moines Register reported.