Two Nuns Including One with Milwaukee Ties Killed in Mississippi

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Authorities say two Catholic nuns have been found slain in a Mississippi home where they lived.

Durant Assistant Police Chief James Lee said Thursday that an officer found them when they didn't report to work as normal.

Mississippi Department of Public Safety spokesman Warren Strain says it appears the nuns were homicide victims. He didn't release a motive and it wasn't clear if their religious work had anything to do with the slayings.

The assistant police chief says it's too early to say how the nuns died, but it appears they were not shot. Lee says both nuns are nurse practitioners.

One is a member of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth in Kentucky. The other is part of the School Sisters of St. Francis in Milwaukee.

School Sisters of Saint Francis is an international congregation based in Milwaukee. Sister Margaret Held visited Milwaukee, but her ministry was in Mississippi. She had been with congregation for 49 years.