2 Medical Researchers Were Found Dead of 'Trauma' Amid Kansas City House Fire — and Killer Remains at Large

Two research scientists from South America have been identified as the victims who were found murdered Saturday amid the smoldering remnants of a Kansas City, Mo., apartment fire.

In a statement to PEOPLE, Stowers Institute for Medical Research confirmed that the bodies of predoctoral researchers Camila Behrensen, 24, of Buenos Aires and Pablo Guzmán Palma, 25, of Santiago, Chile, were recovered from inside a burned midtown apartment.

According to a statement from Kansas City police that was obtained by PEOPLE, the city's fire department responded to the Oak Street structure fire just before 5 a.m.

While extinguishing the blaze, fire fighters discovered the bodies of Behrensen and Palma.

Both victims, the police statement says, were "suffering from apparent trauma."

Both were declared dead at the scene.

"Homicide detectives and crime scene personnel have responded to the scene," the statement adds. "Bomb and Arson detectives have also responded to assist in the investigation. They will be processing the scene for evidence and canvassing the neighborhood for any witnesses."

Behrensen and Guzmán Palma were both predoctoral researchers and members of the 2020 predoctoral research class at Stowers, according to the institute's statement.

Behrensen, an avid runner, had earned a Bachelor's Degree in biotechnology in 2020 from the University Argentina de la Empresa and spent two years studying metabolic changes in fruit flies.

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Guzmán Palma earned his Bachelor's Degree in biochemistry from Pontifical Catholic University in Chile, where he had been doing research on spinal cord regeneration.

At this point, no arrests have been made and police are still working to identify a possible suspect in the killings.

A motive, if known, has not been disclosed.

If you have any information about the killings, please call detectives at (816) 234-5043.

Tips can also be left anonymously at (816) 474-TIPS.

A $25,000 reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest.