Police have issued a public warning after two escorts died, within two weeks of each other, in the same apartment complex in New Westminster, B.C.

Jill Lyons, 45, and Karen Nabors, 48, were found dead in their separate apartments on Aug. 12 and Aug. 25 respectively, police said.

The escorts, who police said knew each other, lived one floor apart in the same apartment building.

Investigators are awaiting toxicology tests to help determine Lyons' cause of death, as early autopsy results were inconclusive, police said in a statement.

Meanwhile, evidence retrieved by police suggests that foul play may have been a factor in Nabors' death.

RCMP Sgt. Jennifer Pound said the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team is asking the public to be cautious following the deaths.

"IHIT’s priority is to reach out to all escorts and remind them of the risks involved and to take extra precaution as it is unclear at this point why, or even if, they are in fact being targeted,” she said in a statement.

Dr. Kate Shannon, director of the gender and sexual health initiative at the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS and a professor of medicine at the University of British Columbia, said sex workers who ply their trade online, as Lyons and Nabors are believed to have done, have some protection because they can negotiate transactions from a safe environment.

However, because most aspects of sex work are illegal, workers can only do so much to protect themselves from a potentially abusive client.

“So sex workers can’t work with other sex workers, sex workers don’t have access to the same safety and security protections, so that might mean a bookkeeper or someone helping screen clients. They also don’t have access to bodyguards or security,” Shannon told CTV News Channel.

“So really, those protections that would be afforded to many other people in Canada aren’t afforded to sex workers.”

She said a public warning such as the one issued by Vancouver police on these two cases is “critical” to getting information to sex workers so they take what steps they are able to to ensure their safety.

“I think the other piece is also showing that police are supportive and encouraging of sex workers to come forward and create that increased communication and reduce that distrust,” she said, which prevents sex workers from reporting violence that could be important evidence for police.

Anyone with any information about the case is asked to contact investigators at 1-877-551-IHIT or Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-8477.