A religious family has been quizzed by police after they kept praying over a son’s decomposing body for three days in an attempt to revive him.

Gaston Claudio Chaves, 24, had died of natural causes in Las Brenas, Chaco, Argentina.

But he was reported missing by his uncle after he apparently disappeared, local media reported on 15th October.

Gaston lived with his daughter, his mother and his sister as well as his stepfather.

When police went to the family home, they were greeted by Gaston’s family members, as well as the pungent stench of rotting flesh permeating through the walls of the building.

Despite this, the officers were initially refused entry into the residence while Gaston’s family members proceeded to answer officers’ questions with cryptic religious expressions and references, according to Daniel Parra, the head of Las Brenas Police Station.

He added: “The relatives had an unscrupulous attitude, they were not consistent in their expressions, and they used a lot of religious expressions.

“When asked about the person we were looking for, they kept mentioning God.”

Distant relatives and frustrated friends of the deceased proceeded to break the family’s front door down a few hours later after gathering in front of the residence around 3:30am, according to reports.

Gaston’s corpse was then found draped across a bed in a room at the back of the house.
Parra added: “These people lived with the body of their relative for more than three days with a nauseating smell at home.

“They were praying that he would resurrect and get better.

“Apparently the situation was drastic.”

The young man’s daughter was then placed in the care of Chaco’s Comprehensive Protection Units (Unidades de Proteccion Integral) while Gaston’s mother, sister and stepdad were taken to a local police station.

An autopsy was then carried out on the young man’s corpse before authorities confirmed that Gaston had indeed died of “natural causes”, according to local media reports.