PHOENIX — Two missing teenage girls were found dead in a water retention basin near Superstition Springs Mall in Mesa over the weekend, authorities said Wednesday.

Officers responded to a call about a body in the water off Southern Avenue between Higley and Power roads, just northwest of the mall, around 6 p.m. Saturday, the Mesa Police Department said in a press release.

The bodies of Sitlalli Avelar, 17, and Kamryn Meyers, 15, were discovered a few yards from each other.

The girls had been staying at a nearby group home and were reported as missing/runaways on Jan. 7, police said.

The cause of death has not yet been determined.

Anybody with information about the case was asked to call Mesa police at 480-644-2211.

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