Mohamed Januzi, a 4-year-old migrant boy from Bosnia who went missing in Berlin earlier this month, was found dead in a car on Thursday morning, the AP reported. Berlin police arrested a 32-year-old unidentified man who was reportedly the owner of the vehicle. He confessed to killing the child after his mother turned him in, German prosecutors said.
A spokesman for for the prosecutors told the AP on Friday that the suspect had confessed to killing a second child. The suspect's first victim was a boy named Elias who went missing in July in the town of Potsdam outside of Berlin.
On Oct. 1, Januzi was seen leaving Berlin's main refugee center with an unidentified man, according to surveillance footage released by authorities. Januzi's mother reportedly lost sight of him earlier that day. He was kidnapped from the grounds of the State Office of Health and Social Affairs, a registration center for refugees, Der Tagesspiegel reported.
Police began searching for the man seen on the surveillance tape holding Januzi's hand. The suspect's mother turned in him after recognizing him in the video, the AP reported. While police were interviewing the mother, the suspect arrived at the home and confessed to killing the child. He told police he had the boy's body in his car.
An autopsy of the child is being conducted today, but prosecutors said he was not "killed today or yesterday" and that the suspect did not appear to have xenophobic motives.
Germany is the recipient of the largest number of asylum applications, according to the United Nations. There are more than 200,000 refugees currently residing in the country.