Police in England have said that establishing the identities of the two bodies found in Suffolk yesterday will almost certainly take some time and it could be days before an announcement is made.
Forensic examinations have been carried out but no formal link has been made between grim discovery and the disappearance of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman two weeks ago today.
A Soham couple in their 20s who knew the 10-year-olds remain in police custody, after their arrest yesterday on suspicion of their abduction and murder.
At daybreak the bodies were still on the ground at Thetford Forest Park, next to a US air force base at Lakenheath, with forensic detectives scouring the ground for clues.
"It is expected the bodies will need preserving at the scene for some time yet and we are still not in a position to confirm their identities," a police spokeswoman said.
In the girls' hometown of Soham, a half-hour drive away, worshippers filed into St Andrew's church where special prayers for Holly and Jessica were added to the regular Sunday service.
"The community is trying to come together to do something tangible in an expression of sympathy and support for the families," Methodist minister Alan Ashton said.
College caretaker Ian Huntley, 28, and his teaching assistant partner Maxine Carr, 25, were detained by police at separate locations. Huntley was also arrested on suspicion of abduction.
Both have not been formally charged.
The discovery of the bodies was made at 1:00 p.m. yesterday by walkers in an area called Thetford Forest Park, an extensive terrain of woods and fields criss-crossed by tracks, which is popular with planespotters.
It is next to Lakenheath air base, one of the biggest US air force installations in Europe.
Up to 40 police officers examined the site overnight using thermal imaging and infra-red equipment.
AFP