Paris ( CNN ) -- The father of missing Swiss twins sent a letter to his wife saying he had killed them before committing suicide , police said Friday . Matthias Schepp , 43 , also studied suicide techniques , poisons and ferry schedules before allegedly taking 6 year-old Alessia and Livia Schepp from their home St. Sulpice , near Lausanne in western Switzerland , on January 30 , according to police in the Swiss canton of Vaud . The girls were spotted on a ferry to the island of Corsica the next day , but there have been no confirmed sightings since , according to investigators . A bar owner in Cerignola in southeastern Italy reported seeing a man with a northern Italian accent taking his daughter to the restroom , according to Rai Uno TV , which added that a police review of the bar 's video does n't support claims the man was Schepp . Schepp killed himself by stepping in front of a train in Cerignola on February 3 , a spokesman for the Swiss police said this week . Authorities did not release the contents of the letters , but the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera published a sentence it said was from Schepp 's last letter , dated the same day he committed suicide and mailed from Bari , which is also in southern Italy about 60 miles ( 100 kilometers ) east of where his body was found . `` The children rest in peace , they have not suffered , '' the newspaper quoted the letter as saying . It is possible that Schepp killed the girls on the ferry to Corsica and threw their bodies overboard , Jacques Dallest , a French prosecutor , said earlier this week . In addition to the alleged confession , the letters -- eight in all -- contained about 4,500 euros , police said . Two more letters , containing 1,500 euros , were found in a postal box that was no longer in service . Police learned of the letters on February 8 , but did not tell the public to avoid complicating the search for the girls , according to a police statement . In addition to the letters , police said searches of Schepp 's computer revealed that he looked up information about firearms two days before allegedly taking the girls . The next day , he searched for information about poisoning techniques and ferry timetables , according to a statement on the website of the Vaud Cantonal Police . `` The information shows that the father had planned the trip in detail , '' according to the police statement . Valerio Lucidi , the twins ' uncle , said in an interview with Rai Uno TV that `` the fact that everything has been planned for days is really worrying . '' Swiss police searched the St. Sulpice home three times and investigated 60 other homes in the neighborhood , Vaud police said . They also searched the father 's four boats at the ports of Morges and Vidy as well as other ports in the region . Police have contacted all service stations between St. Sulpice and the Swiss city of Geneva , monitored all customs posts in the Geneva region , and hired a helicopter to search the lake near St. Sulpice . Police are now searching for the girls in Corsica , while the investigation in Switzerland is examining the family situation and the father 's private and professional life . Police have said Schepp took the girls following family problems , but police said they are n't aware of any evidence suggesting Schepp was having an affair . CNN 's Saskya Vandoorne in Paris contributed to this report .
The quoted letter as saying the ' ` ` have not suffered '' We have not found motive . The authorities are now searching for the girls in London .