JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Two Catholic nuns were found slain in a Mississippi home where they lived when the women, both nurse practitioners, didn't report to work at a nearby hospital, authorities said Thursday.

Durant Assistant Police Chief James Lee said it was too early to say how the nuns died, but it appears they were not shot.

There were signs of a break-in and the nuns' vehicle is missing, said Maureen Smith, a spokeswoman for the Catholic Diocese of Jackson. Both women worked at the Lexington Medical Clinic, about 10 miles away from their home in Durant, a town in a poor, rural part of the state.

Authorities didn't release a motive and it wasn't clear if the nuns' religious work had anything to do with the slayings.

"I have an awful feeling in the pit of my stomach," said the assistant police chief, who is Catholic.

One nun is a member of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, Kentucky. The other is part of the School Sisters of St. Francis in Milwaukee.