Officials confident bodies are missing Iowa girls

• Hunters found bodies Wednesday
• Investigators move toward reclassifying the case as homicide
• The cousins disappeared July 13 near a recreational lake in Evansdale

EVANSDALE, Iowa -- On the same day law enforcement officials voiced confidence that they had found the bodies of missing Iowa cousins Lyric Cook-Morrissey and Elizabeth Collins, one of the girls' younger sisters got her ears pierced.

"She wanted her ears pierced just like Elizabeth's," said Sarah Staebell, a close friend of Elizabeth's parents, Drew and Heather Collins.

Like the girls' family members, community residents searched for ways to honor the pair's memory. More pink ribbons blossomed around town -- pink was the girls' favorite color -- and residents and visitors hung commemorative ornaments on Christmas trees in the girls' honor.

Meanwhile, dozens of law enforcement authorities joined in the grim task of searching for clues to their deaths. Authorities said they believed the bodies found Wednesday in a Bremer County park were those of Lyric and Elizabeth based on evidence at the scene. The park is about 25 miles northeast of Evansdale, where the girls were last seen alive, riding their bicycles.

Autopsy results have not yet been made available to authorities and forensic identifications are not complete, Black Hawk County Sheriff's Department Capt. Rick Abben said at a news conference Thursday.

"We have no one else missing in this area, two bodies were found, and the bodies were smaller in stature," Abben said. He declined to elaborate on other evidence.

Hunters alerted authorities Wednesday of their find at the Seven Bridges Wildlife Area.

Abben said the families have not seen the bodies.

After the girls' disappearance on July 13, authorities and volunteers combed a 12-square-mile area, including Evansdale and surrounding fields and wooded land.

Abben said he was not certain whether the wildlife area in Bremen County had been searched. Abben said law enforcement in counties surrounding Black Hawk, including Bremer, were asked to search. But because the park isn't along a major road, it may not have been covered, he said.

Abben would not provide a timeline for how long the bodies may have been in the park, the condition in which they were found, or the cause of death. He also would not provide any information on a possible suspect or suspects.

He ended the news conference after six minutes.

Lyric and Elizabeth's grandmother reported seeing them on their bicycles about 12:15 p.m. on July 13. Those bikes and Elizabeth's purse and cellphone were found about four hours later along a recreational trail at nearby Meyers Lake. Lyric was 10 at the time; Elizabeth was 8.

The investigation is still classified as an abduction, though it could soon change to a double homicide, Abben said.

"I would say that we're looking that way at this time," Abben said. "We have two bodies, but we're going to rely on the state medical examiner to tell us what they think."

An official from the state medical examiner's office was on the scene Thursday, Abben said, and local, state and federal police drove in and out of the park through the day.

Local residents Thursday said they felt both the pain of sorrow and the comfort of knowing Lyric and Elizabeth are no longer suffering.

"It's just a devastating thing to have happen. This is not the outcome we prayed for," said Linda Wachal.

Now the questions turn to what happened, who was responsible, and whether other children may be at risk.

Julie Morrow used to watch Lyric and Elizabeth ride their bicycles near her consignment store. Now it's rare to see children outside alone, she said.

"You want to feel relieved that there's closure, but hearing that news, it was like it happened all over again," she said.