Girls, 12 and 13, suspects in Freudenberg killing, reports

The suspects in the homicide of a 12-year-old girl in the Siegerland region's Freudenberg are girls of about the same age, German media reported on Tuesday.

The girl went missing on Saturday evening on the way home from a friend's house. Her body was found the next day near a cycling path on the border of the state of Rhineland Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia.

German media reported on Tuesday that the suspects are two girls, one aged 12 and the other 13. 

Authorities are due to hold a press conference in Koblenz later on Tuesday, to reveal more details about the crime.

Girl was missing since Saturday

The child was last seen while visiting a friend and had started walking home on Saturday around 5.30 p.m. local time (1630 GMT), according to local media.

The shortest way between the friend's house and the girl's home was through an area of woodland.

After she failed to arrive home, the parents alerted the police.

Fire, police officers and sniffer dogs began a large search of the area where the girl — identified by local media as Luise — likely walked on Saturday evening.

A body was discovered on Sunday afternoon and the search was called off.

Flags were set to half-mast in the town of Freudenberg, a rural village about 80 kilometers (49 miles) east of Cologne, as a sign of mourning.

"We in Freudenberg are deeply shaken and our thoughts are with the relatives," mayor Nicole Reschke said.