3-year-old twin girls found dead in hot car in Georgia

HINESVILLE, Ga. (WXIN) -- Twin 3-year-old girls in foster care were found dead Sunday in a hot vehicle in Georgia, according to a statement by the City of Hinesville.

The statement said someone called 911 at 1:42 p.m. to report that two children who'd been missing had been found unresponsive in a vehicle in the backyard of a home.

First responders arrived and found the two deceased toddlers inside. The temperature was around 92 degrees Fahrenheit at the time, according to CNN Weather.

The girls, Raelynn and Payton Keyes, were in foster care, according to Whitney Morris-Reed, public relations manager for the City of Hinesville. Police said the girls didn't reside at the house where they were found but often spent time there.

“A search warrant for the home was obtained and GBI was contacted to assist with the investigation,” according to the city's statement. “A crime scene unit processed the scene with the assistance from GBI and the bodies of the children were removed from the scene and taken to the crime lab.”

According to the Liberty County Coroner's Office, preliminary autopsy results revealed their cause of death was heatstroke.

Captain Tracey Howard with Hinesville police told CNN affiliate WTOC that it's too early in the investigation to determine how the children ended up inside the car.

The girls had been living with their foster parents and two other siblings for about a year and a half.