The corpses believed to be dead for more than 10 years were reportedly found during an audit at the Blokhin National Medical Research Center for Oncology on Monday.

An investigation has been launched into the discovery of four long-abandoned bodies at a cancer research center in central Moscow, law enforcement authorities told Russian media on Wednesday.

“Three wooden boxes were found in the refrigeration chamber, containing four mummified bodies and a person’s skeletonized lower limb,” the state-run TASS news agency quoted Moscow’s chief investigator Yulia Ivanova as saying Wednesday.

The Investigative Committee’s Moscow branch has teamed up with the Roszdravnadzor health care watchdog to investigate the morbid discovery.

Authorities have not yet been able to identify or assess the age of the mummified bodies, TASS reported.

The mummies were found less than a month after the appointment of the research center’s new chief, Dr. Ivan Stilidi.

The research center said the four cadavers, which were handed over to law enforcement, were stored because “they were long unclaimed by relatives.”