A child welfare check led Effingham County sheriff’s deputies to discover the bodies of two children buried behind a house in the Guyton area Thursday.

“I’ve been doing this 41 years and a while ago I almost broke down in tears,” said Sheriff Jimmy McDuffie. “It’s that bad. I just, I cannot understand how you do children like this. It’s horrible.”

Deputies received a tip Wednesday night that a 14-year-old girl was missing and feared dead. The tipster said the girl had not been seen in weeks.

Deputies went to a residence in the 400 block of Rosebud Place after 10 p.m. and questioned all the adult family members in the house. They were told the girl had gone to live with her mother but the family members gave conflicting information.

Elwyn Crocker gave information that led investigators to search the grounds of the home. Two bodies were discovered buried just inside the wood line.

McDuffie said the bodies are believed to be the girl, Mary Crocker, 14, and her brother, Elwyn Crocker Jr., who was 14 when he died two years ago.

Mary Crocker had not been seen since October and Elwyn Crocker Jr. had not been seen since November 2016.

Neither child had been reported missing.

McDuffie said a third child was found in the home and is at a local hospital for observation.

The sheriff said the third child “to the best of our knowledge is OK” and is under the supervision of the Division of Family and Children Services.

McDuffie said the biological mother of the children lives in South Carolina and investigators were trying to reach her.

Three family members have been arrested — Elwyn Crocker, 49, the biological father of the children; Candice Crocker, 33, the stepmother; and Kim Wright, 50, the stepgrandmother. All three are charged with concealing the death of another and cruelty to children in the first degree.

McDuffie said autopsies will be performed to verify the identities of the bodies and more charges may be forthcoming once the causes of death are determined.

He said he could not share many details about the case because of “its nature and horrendousness.”

The bodies were buried behind a house in the Azalea Point subdivision, off Rosebud Place.

“This is a very horrendous crime,” said Coroner David Exley. “Children tug at our heartstrings all the time and we hate to have anything happen. When there are people that know something or see something, they should report it.”

Mary Crocker was last enrolled in the Effingham County school system during the 2017-2018 school year, as a sixth grader at Effingham County Middle School. The school system said in a statement that she was transferred to a home school program for this school year.

Elwyn Crocker Jr. was last enrolled through January 2014 as a sixth-grade student at South Effingham Middle School. At that point was transferred to a home school program.