The bodies of two missing young sisters have been found buried in shallow graves a day after their mother’s body was discovered.

The girls Emily and Kemily Padilha, aged five and eight, were found dead in a marsh in Novo Horizonte, southern Brazil, on Friday, 23rd December.

They had been listed as missing since Saturday, 17th December.

Police say one of the girls’ bodies had a smashed skull and both showed clear signs of violence.

The sisters’ remains were found close to the family home, where they lived with mother Neusa Dias Maciel, 24, and stepfather Ademar Carneiro, 33.

Neusa was found buried in a shallow grave nearby on Thursday, 22nd December, also with clear signs of violence.

The charred remains of Ademar were found in his burned-out car on Tuesday, 17th December.

Civil Police reported also finding the damaged remains of a double-barrelled shotgun in the vehicle.

A relative of Neusa, who chose to remain anonymous, told local media that the couple had been together for about two years and worked cutting eucalyptus wood.

She revealed: “On Saturday she stopped replying to messages. Ade even called her sister, on Monday, asking if she had any information.

“He said he didn’t know her whereabouts and that she would have left with the children.”

Neusa’s family says the couple were in love but could also be jealous.

They said that jealousy had even led them to fight on occasion, but they had never suspected that anything like this could ever happen.

Neusa’s sister, Janete Maia, wrote of her nieces: “I can’t believe it, why so much cruelty, what did they owe?

“Nothing, absolutely nothing, they were little angels who had a lot to live for, but now what? Interrupted dreams, smiles that will no longer be seen.”

Police are investigating the case.