Mom Hides Body Of 5-Year-Old In Concrete Block, Uses It As Beside Table

A woman has been arrested in Argentina after cops found the body of her missing 5-year-old daughter entombed inside a concrete block that she used as a bedside table for months.

The 27-year-old woman, identified as Vanesa Mansilla, was taken into custody on charges of culpable homicide after cops discovered the body of her missing daughter, Milagros Nazareth Martin, inside her house in the capital city of Buenos Aires, the New York Post reported.

The officials launched their investigation and made the shocking discovery after the child's father raised a complaint that he has not seen his daughter for a long time.

Mansilla initially told her husband that the child was placed in the care of social services due to the unsanitary conditions of their home.

However, after the cops found Martin's body, Mansilla confessed that she found the girl dead one day and hid the body, as she was scared that she would lose custody of her other children, two boys aged 3 and 7.

"She said that everything happened one afternoon after bathing her children. She went to take a nap and when she woke up, she went to see the girl, and she had already died. She said that she had a runny nose and drool in her mouth," an investigator said, as per the outlet.

Mansilla admitted that she placed the girl's body in a bag and kept it inside a wooden box filled with some cement obtained from a nearby construction site, Sky News reported.

Mansilla reportedly told her family about the child's death. They then informed the cops who initiated the search at her home.

When exactly the child met her demise remains unknown. An autopsy report revealed that the girl died of a respiratory infection stemming from pre-existing illnesses. Her condition required her to have a tracheostomy and a nasogastric tube, according to the New York Post.

After Mansilla's arrest, her other children have been removed from her custody and placed in the care of their grandmother.