The bodies of two missing brothers, aged 6 and 8, sought by police for more than two weeks, were discovered late on Thursday in the elevator of an uninhabited apartment block in Orestiada, northeastern Greece.

The bodies of Amet and Aihan Ceribasi, whose nationalities were not clear, were in an advanced state of decomposition, according to police who had issued a nationwide alert after the children went missing on May 28. Police subsequently detained the children’s parents and another couple on suspicion of having sold the boys, two of about 10 siblings.

But police were yesterday considering the possibility that the brothers’ death was accidental, possibly occuring after they wandered into the apartment block to play.

A coroner who examined the bodies said they bore no signs of having been abused in any way.

He said the brothers may have died of asphyxiation or dehydration but no official verdict had been released by late yesterday.