The father of a one-year-old boy who was found dead under a bridge has confessed to killing his son to get revenge on his ex-girlfriend, who ended their relationship because of his abusive behaviour.

Salvador Meza, 1, was reported missing by his mum, Yakeline Garcia, on Saturday, 23rd October, after his dad, Miguel Angel Meza, took the tot for a walk and never returned.

The police reportedly refused to take the case seriously for days despite the mother’s pleas. However, they eventually acted and arrested the dad in the city of Tumaco in the Colombian department of Narino on Saturday, 30th October.

He reportedly confessed to killing his son and told the cops where he had buried the body. The cops located it under a bridge in the city of Palmira in the department of Valle del Cauca the following day (Sunday, 31st October).

Yakeline had left Miguel Angel over a year ago because he was reportedly physically abusive towards her, but since separating, he reportedly continued to send her threats.

He was allowed limited visitation rights and was only supposed to spend an hour with his son on the day they went missing.

After he failed to return with the boy, his mum immediately knew that her son was in grave danger and reached out to the cops for help. She claimed that the police said they could not do anything at the time because the boy was with his father.

Tania Garcia, the tot’s aunt, told the news outlet Semana that the suspect had sent several messages to Yakeline saying that Salvador was not his son and that if she ever wanted to see him alive again, she should send him intimate photos of herself.

Only after the police were convinced that the suspect was blackmailing Yakeline did they agree to start looking into the case and eventually arrest the boy’s father, as reported in the news outlet Infobae.

The aunt told reporters that her nephew had been asphyxiated and his throat had been slit, but this has not yet been confirmed by the authorities.

Infobae reported that the suspect has been remanded in custody and has been charged with breaching his child custody rights. At the time of reporting, he was awaiting further charges from the Office of the Attorney General.