Story By: Ana Lacasa, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News

Picture Credit: CEN

Cops have busted a couple they spotted with a rain barrel full of soil that turned out to also contain a four-year-old girl’s body who they left to die outside because they did not want to care for her.

Cops from the General Prosecution of the State of Mexico arrested a couple named as Rutilo N., 34, and Karla Magdalena N., 25, as they walked the streets of the municipality of Acolman in the central Mexican state of Mexico.

Local media report cops stopped the couple as they were pushing the blue barrel using a wheeled lifting trolley.

The couple reportedly became nervous when the cops asked them what was inside the barrel and tried to run away but were stopped by the officers.

The cops then opened the barrel and found the body of a four-year-old girl covered with soil inside, according to reports.

The couple were arrested and are said to have told cops the body was that of a girl named Jade who they were planning to secretly bury. Reports state the couple were carrying a spade along with the barrel.

The pair reportedly told cops that the girl’s mother, identified as Brenda, a minor, had left her with them as she could not take care of the girl.

The couple are said to have accepted the girl but did not want to have custody of her. They reportedly refused to feed the girl and left her in their backyard with no shelter.

The suspects told investigators that the girl died on 12th February from the cold weather and they decided to put her body in the barrel and cover it with limes and soil to cover the bad smell, according to reports.

The girl’s body is said to have stayed in the barrel for eight days before the suspects decided to bury her in the El Paraiso colony.

In their statement, the suspect reportedly admitted to beating the girl when her mother did not come back for her.

The victim’s body has been taken to forensic scientists to determine the cause of death and the investigation is ongoing.

It is unclear if the suspects have been charged.