The Mossos d’Esquadra (Catalan regional police) arrested an American couple on Tuesday the 5th, accused of manslaughter due to negligence.

The body of their 7-year-old child was found in a state of decomposition after having laid dead for approximately a month in the family duplex in Gerona, Cataluña.

The discovery was made after the landlady had visited demanding rent arrears. She had heard shouting inside although nobody was answering the door. She called the police.

When they arrived they found the couple in a highly nervous state and the body of the child in the bedroom.

Although the couple had been living with their two other children in the city for 18 months, the children had not been attending school and only rarely left the flat.

Update: the autopsy showed that the child had not suffered a violent death but most probably died from an illness. Samples of body tissue were taken to see if there are trace of drugs/medicines.

(News: Gerona, Cataluña)