Just days after learning the fate of her missing daughter and niece, Heather Collins speaks out about what she and her family are going through.

“This is just so hard, to know that you will never, ever, ever see your daughter again.”

Instead of celebrating the holidays with her daughter, Heather Collins is planning a funeral and saying her final good-byes.

She says she is relying on faith to deal with the heartbreak of losing her daughter, but she’s thankful for the support she’s received from people in her community and across the state.

Collins’ daughter Elizabeth and Elizabeth’s cousin Lyric Cook were kidnapped in July. Two bodies were discovered last week in a remote area of Seven Bridges Park in Bremer County. Authorities confirmed Monday; the bodies were the girls.

Heather Collins says she’s not worried about learning the details of her daughter’s death.

“I don’t need to know how she was murdered. I don’t need to know what anybody has done to her, because that’s in god’s hands…. All I know is that I don’t have my daughter here anymore and she is up in heaven with our savior. That’s all I need to know.”

Collins, along with husband Drew, and their three children have started counseling in an effort to deal with everything they’ve gone through since the girl’s disappearance. She says she’s most concerned about her children, “I think they’re doing okay. They have their sad moments, but I think they’re handling it pretty well.”

Investigators believe they are getting closer to finding the person responsible, and when they are caught Collins says, she’s forgiving them. “We have forgiven whoever did this and we still do. Whoever did this, we forgive you and it’s not for us to judge you and what you’ve done to our daughter and our niece.”

Thanks to affiliate KWWL for this story.