Story highlights Alleged killer took the nuns' car but nothing from their home, law enforcement source says

Margaret Held and Paula Merrill were nurse practitioners

Suspect charged with two counts of capital murder

(CNN) A man has been arrested in the stabbing deaths of two nuns whose bodies were found in their home in rural Mississippi, authorities said.

Margaret Held and Paula Merrill, both nurse practitioners, failed to show up for work Thursday at a clinic in Lexington, where they served one of the state's poorest counties.

Authorities believe the killer took the victims' car, a blue Toyota Corolla, which was later found on an abandoned road less than a mile from their home. But nothing was taken from the house, according to a law enforcement official who has been briefed on the investigation.

Clinic workers called police when the pair didn't arrive at the clinic, said Maureen Smith, a spokeswoman for the Catholic Diocese of Jackson.

When authorities arrived at their home in Durant, 13 miles away from the clinic, they saw evidence of a break-in and found their bodies, she said.

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