American couple held in Spain after son's decomposed body found in bed

Spanish police have arrested a US couple after
their son’s badly decomposed body was found
inside the family flat in the north-eastern city of
Girona.
The dead boy is believed to have been seven
years old and police sources said that the body,
found in a bed under several blankets, could have
been left to decompose for several weeks. There
were no obvious signs of physical violence, the
same sources said.
Officers from Catalonia's Mossos d’Esquadra
police force attended the family’s home on
Tuesday after being called by the couple’s
landlord. He told the police that he had visited
the family to settle unpaid bills but became
suspicious when he was not allowed in and heard
screams the other side of the door.
When police agents gained access to the flat at
midday on Tuesday they were met by a strong
smell of decomposing flesh. The body was not
taken away until some six hours later after
officers had searched the home for clues which
could explain the cause of death. The results of
an autopsy were being awaited on Wednesday,
while the police questioned and eventually
arrested the couple on suspicion of manslaughter.
The couple have been identified only as American
citizens of 38 and 39 years of age. They have two
older children, a boy and a girl, who were also in
the flat when the police arrived. They are now in
the care of local authorities and are being given
psychological support.
Neighbours described the couple as unusual in
that they were Americans who did not speak
much Spanish or Catalan. One resident of the
same building told the newspaper El Periódico
that in recent weeks he had only seen the father,
said to be an engineer who worked over the
border in France, leave the house.
“The only really strange thing I saw with
them was that the children did not go to
school in Girona, but seemed to do classes
online”, said one neighbour.
Even if the autopsy shows that the child died of
natural causes, the parents could still be charged
with manslaughter if they are considered to have
been reckless in not seeking out medical
treatment.