The prospects of early return of the bodies of the two Andhra Pradesh students murdered in the US have brightened as the family of one of the victims Tummala Vikram Reddy has deposited an amount of Rs 3.23 lakh with the Regional Passport office in Hyderabad towards the cost of airlifting of the body.

In case of Tummala Sowmya Reddy, the first victim of the alleged double murder, the family will not have to make any payment as she had the insurance cover and the insurance company has taken the responsibility of sending her body home.

Both the bodies are expected to reach their families in Hyderabad as early on Sunday night, the sources said. Sowmya's elder sister Shaja, who is also a student of MS in Chicago, will accompany the bodies.

Regional Passport Officer in Hyderabad P Bala Bhaskar said that he has forwarded the information about the deposit of money by the family to the India's Consul General office in US.

The two cousins Sowmya Reddy, a MS (Electronics) Student and Vikram Reddy, a software engineer employed with a private company, were found dead near Spanish Lake in Missouri last week. While Sowmya Reddy was found with a bullet injury in a car near the Lake, Vikram Reddy's body was found in the lake.

The family here still does not have any clear information about what exactly happened to their children.

According to the information reaching here, the autopsies have been completed on both the bodies and they were being embalmed for the air journey. The body of Vikram Reddy was with a funeral home in St. Louis.

While Sowmya Reddy is the son of one sister Hemalatha, Vikram Reddy is the son of another sister Rama. Both the families live in the same house in Padmaraonagar area of Hyderabad.