ODENVILLE — Last Friday authorities recovered two premature dead twins from a septic tank at a home in Odenville and law enforcement is investigating the role played by medical personnel.

St. Clair County Sheriff Terry Surles said he “got a call from a family member that told me about it. I went and sat down and I talked to them.”

After speaking with the family, Sheriff Surles said a decision was made to recover the bodies.

“We knew what we had to do if what we had heard was true, which we never doubted at all. We knew we had to recover the babies. At that time, we initiated going through the sewage system to recover (the babies),” Surles said.

Surles said his department is withholding the family name at their request.

“They’re really having a hard time,” he said.

Surles said the family is not responsible for the babies being put in the septic system.

“No family member had anything to do with flushing the babies down the commode,” he said.

He did state that the twins were the children of a family member.

The incident occurred around 6:30 a.m. last Friday morning.

County Coroner Dennis Russell said that the twins were recovered Friday evening just after 5 p.m.

“Once they found the babies we bathed them at the scene and took them to coroner’s office in Pell City,” Russell said.

From there they were taken to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences in Huntsville.

Russell said the twins were not dismembered.

“They were premature babies and there were no defects to the babies at all,” he said.

Russell said he “was told by forensics in Huntsville that had the babies been born in a hospital, they would not have been born alive.”

He said the bodies were released back to the family from forensics for them to make arrangements.

“It ranks right up there at the top with some of the worse I have ever seen,” Surles said.

The family released a statement through their attorneys, Lance Bell, Esq. & Matt Abbott, Esq.

“Our family is hurting right now, and we need time to heal. We appreciate everyone’s respect of our privacy as we endure this difficult time,” the statement read.

A statement released Tuesday afternoon by the attorneys stated the following:

“This was a frantic emergency situation where a young pregnant mother of approximately 20-week-old twins, in excruciating pain, suffered a miscarriage during the early morning hours of Friday, July 23. After calling 911, and while strapped to a stretcher, this young mother was forced to witness medical/emergency personnel knowingly and willfully flush her babies down the toilet. As attorneys and designated spokespersons for the family, we will be relentless in our pursuit not only to conduct a thorough investigation of all the facts surrounding this shocking and unexplainable event, but to demand accountability for those who are responsible for this heinous, willful act that shocks the conscious of a moral and decent society. The family is appreciative for the quick response and investigation being conducted by the St. Clair County Sheriff's Department and the District Attorney’s Office.”

On Monday, a member of the Odenville Fire Department was placed on administrative leave following the incident.

The incident will be presented to a grand jury.