The late Janet M. Barrie has been identified as the owner of a trunk in which the mummified remains of a baby and a fetus were found in Los Angeles.

LOS ANGELES — Investigators have identified the owner of a trunk in which the mummified remains of two babies were found, bringing them a step closer to solving the intriguing international mystery.

The owner of the steamer trunk, abandoned for decades in the basement of an apartment building, was Janet M. Barrie, a Scottish immigrant who was born in 1897 and worked as a nurse in Los Angeles before moving to Vancouver, where she died, officials said Thursday.

Confirming her identity will help investigators as they try to solve the puzzle of the abandoned remains found wrapped in sheets and nestled in doctor bags amid scrunched up copies of 1930s newspapers.

The coroner's office has been unable to determine how the babies died, and it might never be known why they were placed in the trunk or who put them there. DNA tests are currently under way to see if the babies were related to each other.

Investigators with the coroner's office tracked down Barrie's nieces and nephews in Canada. The family members have agreed to submit DNA samples to see if they are related to the babies, said a law enforcement official who asked not to be named because the investigation was ongoing.

The abandoned trunk was found Aug. 17 by two women clearing out an apartment building basement that was filled with items that accumulated during years of remodels.

The women found the babies when they peeked into the doctors bags. It is not known if they had been born alive or had been miscarried or aborted.

One of them, a girl, was about the age of a newborn and extremely well preserved.

The other baby was much smaller and in worse condition, and could have been a fetus or born prematurely.

Barrie worked as a private nurse in the home of dentist George Knapp, mainly looking after his wife Mary Downs Knapp. After the wife died in 1964, Barrie married Knapp and stayed with him until his death in 1968.

After her husband's death, Barrie moved to Vancouver, where she died of natural causes in 1995, the law enforcement official said.

It's possible Barrie had unwanted children, or perhaps they were babies she helped deliver that did not survive.

Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck said it was important to continue investigating the case because it could turn out the babies were homicide victims.

"Justice, even when delayed, is still justice," Beck said.