Paris, France (CNN) -- French police are questioning a couple detained following the discovery of the bodies of eight newborn babies at two locations in northern France, the French Interior Ministry said Thursday.
Gendarmes found the remains in the village of Villers-au-Tertre, south of Lille, some in a home and others in the garden of another home. Authorities scheduled a news conference for Thursday at 2 p.m. local time (midday GMT).
The woman has been charged with voluntary manslaughter of minors under the age of 15. The man is charged with refusing to expose crimes and concealing bodies, prosecutors told CNN.
Agence-France Presse reported that the couple, both estimated to be in their mid-forties, would appear before prosecutors later Thursday. The woman is a nursing assistant while the man is a member of the local council, a neighbor told AFP.
"These are attractive, helpful, polite and courteous people, who did nothing to make you think them capable of anything abnormal," he said.
Another resident said the couple had two grown-up daughters and were grandparents, AFP said. The pair had lived in the village for at least 15 years, neighbors said.
Former mayor Daniel Collignon said Villers-au-Tertre was a quiet, rural community. "I'm still in shock," he told AFP.
Police with sniffer dogs searched the two homes after the new owners of one of them found the bones of two bodies in the garden. The house had previously belonged to the mother of the arrested woman, AFP said.
Six more bodies were then found at the couple's home in another part of the village, a local councilor told reporters.
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