CHARLESTON, S.C. — Authorities in South Carolina say two fetuses were found at a wastewater treatment plant on James Island.

Local news agencies report that Charleston police say a Plum Island Wastewater Treatment Plant employee discovered the remains Aug. 8.

Arriving officers were taken to a pump station where they found what appeared to be two “preterm” babies that had been recovered from the wastewater.

Charleston County Coroner Rae Wooten says the age of the fetuses was hard to tell, but they were probably second trimester. She says it’s unlikely they could have survived on their own outside the womb.

Authorities say it’s impossible to tell how long they were in the water.

Wooten says there’s no way to track exactly where the fetuses came from, referring to it as an “isolated situation.”