( CNN ) -- Child protective investigators in Florida had `` prior involvement '' with the family of the two children found dead in a canal this month , an official said Tuesday . But the department had not had an open investigation involving the children since 2005 , said Elisa Cramer , director of communications for the Florida Department of Children and Families . The bodies of two children -- a brother and sister , ages 10 and 6 -- were found in a south Florida canal last week . They had been stuffed in luggage . The girl 's body was found first , after a passer-by alerted police to a duffel bag floating about midway across the canal ; the boy 's body turned up in a suitcase closer in as investigators combed the banks for evidence , according to police . Police have said that their only suspect in the children 's deaths has been taken into custody by federal law enforcement officers on unrelated charges . Clem Beauchamp , the ex-boyfriend of the children 's mother , was arrested on a federal firearms charge dating to 2009 , according to CNN affiliate WPBF . He has not been charged in connection with the deaths of the children , identified as Jermaine McNeil and Ju'Tyra Allen . The body of a woman who officials believe was the children 's mother , Felicia Brown , was found in a landfill in August , police said Friday . She was never reported missing , and the body had not been identified , but authorities made the connection after they began looking for the mother in the wake of the children 's bodies being found . Three children who lived with Beauchamp have been placed in licensed care , Cramer said . Citing confidentiality rules , she declined to provide further information on them . The actions of the Florida Department of Children and Families also are being looked at in a separate case , in which 10-year-old twins were found last month in a pest control truck on the side of Interstate 95 in West Palm Beach , Florida . One of the twins , a girl , was dead ; her brother was badly injured . The twins ' adoptive parents -- Carmen Barahona , 60 , and Jorge Barahona , 43 -- have been charged with first-degree murder in the girl 's death . The boy was taken to a hospital and treated for severe burns . The parents also each face seven counts of aggravated child abuse and seven counts of child neglect . Days before the twins were found , the Department of Children and Families received tips alleging poor treatment of children at the Barahona household in Miami-Dade County .
Florida 's Department of Children and Families says it had `` prior involvement '' with the family . No investigation was open at the time of their deaths , it says . The two dead children have been identified as brother and sister , ages 6 and 10 . A suspect is in federal custody on unrelated charges , police say .