Florida mother a person of interest in daughters’ deaths after bodies found in canal
Tinessa Hogan, 36, is in police custody in Lauderhill, a town 30 miles north of Miami, but she isn't under arrest.
A Florida woman is being considered as a person of interest after the bodies of her two daughters were found in a canal eight hours apart.
Tinessa Hogan, 36, is in custody, but not under arrest, according to police in Lauderhill, a town located 30 miles north of Miami. The deaths of her daughters, Destiny Hogan, 9, and Daysha Hogan, 7, have been deemed “suspicious.”
According to an NBC News report, the girls were last seen with their mother around 5 p.m. on Monday near the creek where the bodies were found. The body of Daysha, who was last seen wearing jean shorts and a shirt emblazoned with the rainbow-colored word “Dance,” reportedly showed no obvious signs of trauma.
Her older sister’s hands, though, were pale white. An unknown white substance was found on young Destiny’s face. She was bearing a gray top featuring three animated women.
“At this point, I would classify it as two suspicious deaths,” said Mike Bigwood of the Lauderhill Police Department. “We are definitely treating it as if it was a criminal investigation.”
The father of the girls is reportedly estranged from the family.
The body of the elder girl was found around noon on Tuesday, and through the police investigation, it was uncovered that the younger girl was also missing. Her body was found around 8:30 p.m. the same day.
Local police may have received information from neighbors that Hogan had been at the canal offering to baptize people, “an angle that’s being looked at,” Bigwood said. He is asking for community support — including possible witnesses and people who know the family — to step forward and provide “context” on how the girls may have died.
The girls’ bodies are undergoing autopsies, which may determine if charges will be filed in their deaths.
A CBS News report says the Hogans’ neighbor, Lawana Johnson, discovered one of the corpses. “It shocked me,” she said. “I froze, then I started to cry.”
Another neighbor, Loanna Jones, said, “One of the neighbors noticed something floating in the water, and we went to look, and it was a little girl. A little baby. Somebody’s child.”
Nearby residents have set up a makeshift memorial in the area.
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