A woman has been detained in northern Germany on suspicion of murder in connection with the death of an eight-year-old boy whose disappearance made headlines across the country last month.

Prosecutor Harald Nowack on Thursday said the woman is suspected of having killed the boy, Fabian, whose charred remains were found in Klein Upahl, near his hometown of Güstrow, several days after he went missing in mid-October.

The woman has not been identified, with Nowack warning that she remains innocent until proven guilty in court.

“We are in a relatively small town or village environment there. Anything I would tell you now would enable the identification of this person,” the prosecutor said.

The 8-year-old disappeared on October 10 and was reported missing by his mother later that evening.

It was initially assumed that the boy had wanted to go see his father, who lives separately from his mother south of Güstrow, on the day of his disappearance.

Hundreds of officers were deployed to search nearby forests, while divers searched a lake, before authorities were alerted to the discovery of the body days later by a walker.

An autopsy of the child revealed that he was the victim of a violent crime, prompting weeks of investigations that culminated in Thursday’s arrest.

Güstrow Mayor Sascha Zimmermann said he was “grateful that the investigating authorities are working intensively and meticulously,” he said. “Fabian’s family, Güstrow and the region need certainty.”