Ohio ? Two bodies discovered in Ohio may be those of two New Hampshire children whose father confessed to killing them and burying them somewhere along a 700-mile stretch of the Midwest 2 1/2 years ago, authorities said Friday.

Police and the FBI said a dog that bolted from its owner during a walk Thursday found a shallow grave containing both bodies wrapped in plastic near Interstate 80, also known as the Ohio Turnpike.

Scott Wilson, a spokesman with the FBI’s Cleveland office, said he could not comment on the gender or age of the bodies, but added: “We’re looking into the possibility the bodies might be linked to those missing kids.”

If tests confirm the remains are those of Sarah and Philip Gehring of Concord, N.H., the discovery will end a long and frustrating search that ranged 700 miles across the Midwest.

Sarah, 14, and Philip, 11, were shot to death by their father, Manuel Gehring, as he fled across the country in July 2003. Gehring confessed to the slayings but strangled himself in prison before he could be tried.

He told police he buried the children somewhere along a stretch of interstate between Pennsylvania and Iowa, but he could not pinpoint the spot.