The body of a baby who was killed and buried in the snow in Northeast China had been recovered, police said on Wednesday .

The suspect, Zhou Xijun, turned himself in to police on Tuesday and has confessed, said Dai Renfei, a public security bureau spokeswoman for Changchun in Jilin province.

Zhou, 48, a native of neighboring Gongzhuling, is accused of strangling the 2-month-old Xu Haobo on Monday after finding the boy in the back seat of a silver gray Toyota RAV4 he stole in Changchun.

Dai said that the body was found on Tuesday.

The baby's father, identified as Xu, said he left his son wrapped in a pink blanket in the unlocked SUV outside his grocery store at about 7 am. The vehicle was stolen moments later.

Thousands of people gathered in a square in Changchun on Tuesday night to mourn the death of the baby, Xinhua News Agency reported.Many people offered their condolences online, including celebrities.

"Rest in peace, baby. There is no bad guy in heaven," actress Yao Chen wrote on Sina Weibo, a leading micro blog service.

"I have been following the case, and didn't expect this worst outcome. The killer should be punished," wrote another netizen.

More than 8,000 police officers in Changchun took part in a citywide search for the baby. Dai dismissed online rumors that Zhou confessed to the police to protect someone else.

"Zhou is the killer and has been detained for criminal investigation," she said.

Contact the writers at wangxiaodong@chinadaily.com.cn and hanjunhong@chinadaily.com.cn

Liu Mingtai in Changchun contributed to this story.

(China Daily 03/07/2013 page4)