Authorities have identified the two women whose bodies, bound together with duct tape, were found floating along New York City’s Hudson River earlier this week.
The bodies are those of Tala Farea, 16, and Rotana Farea, 22, who are sisters from Fairfax, Virginia, according to the New York City Police Department.
The working belief among investigators is that the women wanted to end their own lives, taped themselves together and jumped into the water, a police source told ABC News.
The medical examiner’s office will determine the causes of death as the investigation continues, police said.
A passerby spotted the bodies in the river off of Manhattan’s Upper West Side on Wednesday afternoon and alerted authorities.
The sisters were found laying on rocks near the river, fully-clothed, both wearing black jackets with fur trim and black leggings. There were no obvious signs of trauma, police said.
The bodies are believed to have washed ashore with the tide and stayed when the tide went out, police said.
Anyone with information about the Farea sisters is urged to call the New York City Police Department’s Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS.
ABC News’ Aaron Katersky and Emily Shapiro contributed to this report.
