Story By: Alex Cope, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Newsflash

This mum who reported her toddler missing more than a month ago has reportedly now confessed to throwing the girl’s body in a river when she accidentally choked.

Tot Isis Helena was reported missing on 2nd March in the town of Itapira in the southeastern Brazilian state of Sao Paulo, with her mother Jennifer Natalia Pedro, 21, telling investigators the tot, 1 year and 10 months old, had disappeared as she had gone to withdraw cash with the toddler’s grandmother.

Pedro said that when she returned home, the front door of the house was open and the toddler, who suffered from microcephaly and took prescription drugs, was no longer there.

Microcephaly is a medical condition in which the brain does not develop properly, resulting in a head which is shorter than normal.

A search operation was launched but investigators reportedly began to find inconsistencies in the mother’s version of events and she was arrested on 17th April “to make the facts clear”, officials said.

The mother is now said to have changed her version of events, reportedly telling investigators that her daughter had been ill during the night with a fever.

The mother then reportedly gave the toddler her bottle with milk and put her to sleep face up at around 4:15 am.

The following day at 6 am the mother found her daughter “cold” with “milk around the corners of her mouth” and realised that the tot had choked and died, according to the police. Reports state it is believed the girl suffered convulsions whilst choking.

Investigators say the mother then became scared and decided to throw the tot’s body into the Peixes river. The police are reportedly working with the mother to help them find the body.

A statement from the Secretariat of Public Security said that the “case is still under investigation” and that “the mother of the victim gave a new version of events, confessing the crime”.

The baby’s grandmother, named in reports as Rose, was reportedly surprised to learn of the confession and said she was unaware of her daughter’s participation in her granddaughter’s death.

She denied having hidden information about the alleged crime to protect her daughter, telling local TV programme Cidade Alerta: “I don’t believe it. And I’m not covering for anyone. I’m suffering for my granddaughter.”

The mother remains in detention but it is unclear if she has been charged.

The ViralTab page is created by and dedicated to professional, independent freelance journalists. It is a place for us to showcase our work. When our news is sold to our media partners, we will include the link here.