"I don't know who would do that to these babies, or why," said Officer Tanya Little, a police spokeswoman. "But I know it's sad that these babies weren't properly put to rest."
The bodies were found by Kasime and a 12-year-old neighbor at about 6 p.m. Saturday on a narrow street that backs up to a used-car lot and is often used for illegal dumping.
"I saw the two babies," said Kasime. "I thought it was baby dolls."
They were surrounded by piles of trash - the shell of a television, a latex paint bucket, a purple container for baby wipes.
Kasime said that after he found the bodies he went home and told his father, Ronnie Jackson. The father assumed his son was mistaken until the next morning, when the boy told him more about what he had seen.
"The first thing that came to my mind was, well, they're probably real babies," Jackson said.
He called the police and then, along with his son, went to the scene. There, Jackson said, he saw two babies near the side of the road, both in the fetal position. He and his son said the bodies were blue and had deep lacerations on their stomachs and heads.
"One was big, one was small," the father said. "They both looked like they were about a day old."
Their umbilical cords were attached, Jackson said.
A lieutenant at the scene also described the babies as appearing to have been "just born."
Little said that the babies were newborns, but that the medical examiner was not yet able to provide an age. The police said the examiner could tell that the babies had been previously autopsied, although officials didn't know when and by whom.
Police Sunday blocked off the street to keep back a crowd of curious neighbors and media.
"It's a mess. It's sad," Sharon Bracey, a neighbor who drove Jackson and his son to the scene Sunday morning, said. "I thought it was going to be nothing to it but we thought we better check because they said they smelled the scent."
As the investigators prepared to leave, a member of the crime scene unit picked up one of the bodies in a small blue body bag and carried it to a police van. Another man did the same with the second.
Police said they were canvassing the area for video surveillance cameras. A security camera is mounted yards from where the bodies were found, on a building that runs along one side of the alley. Little said she did not know whether that camera was active.
Investigators were seen going in and out of the building several times Sunday.
Little said it doesn't appear that there was anything suspicious about how the babies died. The case is not being investigated as a homicide. She said that whoever left the bodies could be charged with abusing a corpse.
She said police do not have the license plate number for the black pickup truck seen dumping trash nearby.
"It's our belief, possibly, this vehicle may have dumped the corpses there," Little said. "We don't know this for sure, which is why we're canvassing the area."
Officials did not release any other details about the babies, such as their race or whether they were thought to be related.
"We just want to make sure the integrity of the investigation is protected," Lt. Juan Perez said. "And make sure that these children are properly treated with the appropriate respect."
Without knowing their names, the police are calling them John Doe and Jane Doe.
Alex Wigglesworth is a Philly.com staff writer.
tnadolny@phillynews.com
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@TriciaNadolny
