Police in northern Germany on Monday said they had found the body of a child believed to be an eight-year-old boy known in the German press as Fabian. They added that a criminal offense was suspected in the case.

Fabian from Güstrow, south of the city of Rostock, has been missing since Friday evening, when his mother reported that he had failed to return home at the agreed time.

What have police said about the case?

Officers said there is "a very high probability" that the body discovered in a nearby forest in the northeastern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is the missing boy, though an autopsy will be needed for confirmation.

"According to the current state of the investigation, it can be assumed that someone else was responsible," the police and public prosecutor's office announced.

In the days that followed Fabian's disappearance, hundreds of emergency personnel searched for the child — in nearby forests, in empty houses, and in an industrial park.

According to police, around 200 officers were deployed on Monday alone. Investigators questioned neighbors and conducted interviews at Fabian's elementary school.

On Monday night, several cadaver dogs independently indicated a scent near the Inselsee lake at the edge of town, but divers found nothing in the area the next day.

Police continued to comb through woods and abandoned buildings. A spokesperson said the body was finally located on Tuesday morning after a citizen came forward with a tip.

Initially, it was assumed that the boy had wanted to go to his father on the day of his disappearance.

According to police, sniffer dogs had followed the boy's trail as far as Güstrow bus station. At a bus stop near Zehna, where the father lives, a dog had picked up the scent again, police said over the weekend. There, the dog found a trail that was then lost in the nearby forest.

The case has shocked the community in central Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, where volunteers had joined the large-scale search effort. Investigators have not yet released information about the cause of death.

Edited by: Roshni Majumdar