( CNN ) -- Police in Canada are looking into the deaths of two young boys who appear to have been strangled by a python . The boys , ages 5 and 7 , were found dead Monday morning at an apartment in Campbellton , New Brunswick . They had been sleeping over at a friend 's apartment above a reptile store , according to a statement from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police . Early indications suggest that a snake from the store escaped its enclosure , got into the ventilation system , then the apartment , and strangled the two boys , the statement said . RCMP Sgt . Alain Tremblay described the snake as a python . It was captured , and police have the snake in their possession . Canadian broadcaster CBC reported the python is between 11 and nearly 15 feet long and weighs more than 99 pounds . Autopsies on the boys ' bodies will be performed Tuesday . A neighbor , Diane Fournier , has lived on the same street as the pet store for 12 years . She described the deaths as `` shocking . '' `` I knew the kids . They were brothers . They played in my yard with my dogs all of the time , '' she said . Fournier sent CNN a photograph her husband took of the store . It showed police cars , cones and yellow tape blocking off the area . The store , Reptile Ocean Inc. , offered condolences on its Facebook page before the page shut down . `` deepest symphathies goes out to the family of the children . a terrible accident without a meaning . this page will be shut down temporarily to avoid any further demeaning comments . you should be ashamed of yourselves , '' the post read . `` we all have a heavy heart today . as anyone would . and attacks on the animals owner are unneccesary . '' CNN 's Kevin Conlon contributed to this report .
NEW : Snake reportedly is almost 100 pounds long , weighs 11 to 15 feet . The boys , ages 5 and between 11 and nearly 15 feet , were found dead in New Brunswick , Campbellton . They had been sleeping over at an apartment above a reptile store . Police believe the snake escaped its enclosure there , got upstairs , and strangled the boys .