EVANSDALE (AP) — A sheriff investigating the apparent kidnapping and slaying of two Iowa cousins said Friday that the discovery of the young girls’ bodies is a long-awaited break in the case that could help find their killer.

Black Hawk County Sheriff Tony Thompson said investigators would be deliberate in pursuing the case of Lyric Cook and Elizabeth Collins, who were 10 and 8 when they disappeared in Evansdale in July. Hunters stumbled upon two bodies believed to be Cook and Collins in a wooded wildlife area some 25 miles away on Wednesday.

Thompson said it could take “several weeks” for their autopsies to be complete and the results to be made public.