The mystery surrounding the tragic death of a 3-year-old girl whose body was found on a beach in southern Athens has taken a chilling turn, as her mother has now confessed to abandoning the child’s body at the scene.

Greek authorities arrested the woman, a 27-year-old Algerian national, on Friday morning. She reportedly admitted to police that her daughter died in an accident at home on Saturday night. Fearing deportation due to her undocumented status in Greece, she chose not to seek medical help or report the death—decisions that ultimately led her to leave the child’s lifeless body on the shore of Eden beach in the suburb of Palaio Faliro.

Questions Surrounding Cause of Death

The mother claimed her daughter was fatally injured in a bathroom fall. However, forensic evidence has raised serious doubts about her version of events. Medical examiners found traces of water and sand in the child’s lungs and stomach—signs suggesting the girl may have still been alive when placed in the sea.

Authorities are now investigating whether the toddler died at home as claimed, or if she was unconscious and left in the water, where she ultimately drowned.

Reports have also emerged pointing to a history of domestic violence in the family. The child’s father, believed to be a Syrian national, is currently missing and may also be sought by police to give a statement.

Tracked Down by Taxi Clue

The woman’s arrest came after a days-long search, aided by key video footage and eyewitness accounts. Investigators were able to trace her movements thanks to a taxi driver who unknowingly transported her from the beach area to a neighborhood in central Athens in the early hours of Sunday.

Police located the driver by first contacting a tourist who had shared the same cab shortly before the woman. Using this information, they tracked the woman to the Patissia district, where they observed her residence before making the arrest at around 7:00 AM on Friday as she left her apartment with her two remaining children.

Disturbing Surveillance Footage

Authorities are also examining surveillance footage showing the woman pushing a stroller with the victim and two other children through the streets of Palaio Faliro at night. The toddler’s face was covered with a hat, despite the late hour.

In a later video, the woman is seen walking toward the beach with the stroller. Hours after that, she returns—without the child—and is seen abandoning the now-empty stroller in a nearby park.