Tinessa Hogan, Mother of Two Girls Found Dead in Florida Canal, Named Person of Interest

A Florida woman has been named a person of interest after the bodies of her two young daughters were pulled from a canal in Lauderhill, Florida.

Lauderhill police said officers were called to the 5900 block of Northwest 21st Street on Tuesday and recovered the body of 9-year-old Destiny Hogan shortly after midday.

Around eight hours later, police responded to another 911 call and pulled the body of her 7-year-old sister, Daysha, from the water.

Their mother, 36-year-old Tinessa Hogan, has not been arrested or questioned in connection with their deaths, Lt. Mike Bigwood said at a news conference on Wednesday.

However, he said the woman is a person of interest.

Bigwood said Tinessa Hogan was last seen with her daughters at around 5 p.m. on Monday.

A neighbor told CBS Miami that she saw the woman acting strangely at the time.

"She was in the water swimming, she had a bible and she told me to come here. I said, 'Why?' She said she wanted to baptize me," Lawana Johnson told the station.

Another neighbor, identified only as Kenyani, who lives with his mother across from the canal where the Hogan family live, said his mother saw it too.

The following morning, Kenyani said his mother told him there was a body floating in the canal. "It was just horrifying and traumatizing," he said.

At Wednesday's news conference, Bigwood said police have received similar information about Tinessa Hogan being in the canal and offering to baptize people in the neighborhood.

He also urged anyone with information about the Hogan family to contact the police department. He said relatives told police that the children's father is estranged from the family.

"At this time, we are exploring all possible leads. Detectives have been working nonstop since yesterday," he said.

"I think any knowledge of the family, the family dynamic, activities that the family engaged in together, just general information about who they were and what their day to day life was like would be extremely helpful."

Bigwood said autopsies on the sisters were completed on Wednesday afternoon.

However, he said an official ruling on cause and manner of death has not been released by the medical examiner's office.

Police did not confirm if Tinessa Hogan had been placed on a psychiatric hold, but said there was no danger to the community.

"She is not in the community right now, we're not at liberty to say where she is," Bigwood said.

"The takeaway here is that we don't have someone out there creating issues in the community that may cause harm to others," Lauderhill Police Chief Constance Stanley added.

The investigation is ongoing, police said.

Newsweek contacted the Lauderhill Police Department for additional comment.