BATON ROUGE - Federal investigators are looking into an unidentified individual in Louisiana who tried to arrange a meet-up with a pair of young girls who fled their homes in Florida late last week.

Late Thursday morning, the Union County Sheriff's Office put out a missing children alert for Jade Gregory, 12, and Khloe Larsen, 14. Deputies said they believed the two were heading to the Baton Rouge area before the girls were taken into custody by law enforcement near the Alabama-Florida border.

State investigators and the FBI are now trying to track down the "unknown person" who was in contact with the girls, the sheriff's office said.

"Whether or not they were trying to lure them out there... either way they were going out there to meet this person," Chief Deputy Lyn Williams told WGFL. "The 12-year-old child went to pick up the 14-year old child."

Deputies believe the girls met that mystery individual online, but that person has not been identified. 

The pair reportedly surrendered after seeing a report on their disappearance being broadcast on television. Both girls were kept at an Alabama juvenile jail over the weekend pending a hearing Monday. 

Officials in Florida said the girls have not been cooperating with the investigation. They expect to interview the girls with the help of federal investigators once they're released from custody in Alabama.