The bodies of two sisters from Saudi Arabia who were seeking asylum in the United States (US) were recovered from a New York City riverbed, tied together with duct tape, The New York Times reported on Monday.

According to the NYT, the police had initially struggled to identify the women but later said they were 22-year-old Rotana Farea and 16-year-old Tala Farea who lived in Fairfax, Virginia.

Police said there were no obvious signs of trauma on their bodies, adding that both had been reported missing multiple times in the past, and had recently requested asylum in the US.

NYT reported that investigators were trying to determine how the two sisters ended up in the riverbank at Riverside Park.

According to an Arab News report cited by the NYT, the younger of the two sisters had been living with their mother in Fairfax, while the older one had been living in New York.

Their mother reported the younger sister missing two months ago, but the search was called off when Tala was discovered visiting her older sister.

Both sisters were reported missing in Virginia by someone in October as well, New York police officials said.

Tala and Rotana's mother also reported them missing last year. When the sisters were located, they asked the police for protection and were placed in a shelter, police told NYT.

Arab News reported that both sisters were in touch with their mother until about a week ago.

Police said the mother, who was not identified, had received a call from the Saudi embassy in Washington informing her that her daughters had applied for asylum, NYT reported.

The Saudi consulate-general in New York said it was "conducting a continuous follow-up to find out the facts" regarding the incident, according to a statement shared by Al Arabiya on Tuesday.

The statement said that the case was still under investigation and a forensic report stating the cause of the death hadn't been issued as yet.

It added that the they had also appointed a lawyer to "follow up the legal process of the case and will clarify the most important developments as soon as they are received".

Earlier, the NYT had shared a tweet posted by the Saudi consulate in New York on Sunday in which they stated that they were closely following the investigation of the two Saudi citizens found dead in the Hudson River.