LORANGER — Law officers made an urgent plea Thursday for the safe return of two young girls missing from a Loranger home where their mother was found dead.

"Please. Please turn the children over to someone," Tangipahoa Parish Chief Deputy Jimmy Travis said. "Get them safe. Call law enforcement to pick them up. If you don't want to do that, take them to the nearest hospital. Drop them off at the ER. Drop them off someplace safe. Get them back safe. That's what we're begging you."

The girls' grandfather found Callie Brunett, 35, dead inside the family's rural home Thursday morning, Travis said. The woman and her daughters were last seen Tuesday night. A search began Wednesday night.

"You're talking about a 36-hour gap there that someone could have taken those children, along with her car that is missing, and you could be halfway across the country by now," Chief Deputy Jimmy Travis said. "We don't know if the children are in this area."

State Police issued an AMBER alert for the girls and said they could be in Brunett's 2012 Chrysler 200, which was also missing. Detectives said they had spoken to the girls' father and said he was not responsible for the kidnapping or the killing.

"We don't have a known suspect that we can release a name or anything at this point," Travis said outside the home.

Helicopters buzzed overhead near the home on the east side of Tangipahoa Parish, north of Hammond. 

Travis said Brunett's father found her body, but the children — Jalie, 6, and Erin, 4 — were missing.

Detectives said they are seeking an unknown white male. He is believed to be armed and dangerous and should not be confronted by the public. Brunett's car has Louisiana license plate 859GML.

Travis said a crime-scene investigation team was working inside the home but that the bulk of the investigation was centered on locating the girls.

"We have to find these children," he said.