Australian professor, sister found dead in Argentina

The remains of an Australian university professor and her sister have been found buried at the home of a family relative in Argentina, days after they were reported missing, the media reported on Monday.

Authorities said Pirhya Sarusi and Lily Pereg, both Israeli nationals, had visited Sarusi's son Gil Pereg before their disappearance and were found interred at his property in the city of Mendoza on Saturday, CNN reported.

Gil Pereg has been charged with two counts of murder, according to a statement from the Argentine attorney general's office.

One of the corpses had three gunshot wounds and the other also had markings indicating a struggle, it said.

In an interview shortly before his arrest on Sunday, Gil Pereg told Todo Noticias news channel that authorities had told him nothing and denied that anything illegal had happened in his house.

Lily Pereg was a professor at Australia's University of New England, whose main campus is at Armidale in New South Wales. Its website describes her as a microbiologist specialising in plant and soil microbiology.

In an interview with CNN before the bodies were found, Moshe Pereg, the brother of the two sisters, said a preliminary search at Gil Pereg's house did not reveal any information.

Moshe said Gil told him that Pirhya and Lily left his house the night of January 21 and headed to the bus station.

--IANS

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