9-Year-Old Girl, Younger Sister Found Dead In South Florida Canal; Mother Taken Into Custody

The dead bodies of two sisters, aged 9 and 7, were found floating in a South Florida canal Tuesday.

Lauderhill police identified the girls as Destiny and Daysha Hogan. Their mother, 36-year-old Tinessa Hogan, has been taken into custody as a possible person of interest. However, she has not been arrested yet, reported CBS Miami.

Destiny's body was found Tuesday afternoon in the canal near a residential neighborhood in Lauderhill. Hours later, the body of her younger sister was found.

Police didn't initially suspect any foul play as Destiny's body bore no signs of trauma. They searched the area and didn't find anything suspicious. But, then they got a 911 call from a local resident who spotted the younger girl's body.

Officers confirmed that the mother and the children were living in the same neighborhood.

"Monday the 21st at about 5 in the afternoon is the last sighting of the children and mother together," Lauderhill PD Det. Mike Bigwood told CBS Miami.

Though it was not clear how and when the girls went into the water, police said they were treating the case as "suspicious deaths."

"With any death like this that involves family members, I think we're looking at all possible angles. At this point I would classify it as two suspicious deaths, we are definitely treating it as if it was a criminal investigation," Bigwood was quoted by NBC Miami.

A neighbor spotted Tinessa "acting weirdly" near the canal Monday evening.

"She was in the water swimming, she had a bible and she told me to come here. I said, 'Why?' She said she wanted to baptize me. She say God told her, I say 'God didn't tell you anything,'" Lawana Johnson, a neighbor, told CBS Miami.

Officers were also combing through Tinessa's home to find anything that would help them piece together what happened to the children.

Neighbors said they never saw anything suspicious in the house. "She always used to be outside, be outside with her sister. The mom would always watch them. I never saw anything suspicious. I used to see them play," said Kenyani, another neighbor.

There were reportedly no records of child welfare workers responding to the home.

Police are urging people who knew the family or children to contact them. "We're hoping that the community reaches out and helps us put some context to how this may have happened," Bigwood said.