The body of a 7-year-old girl was found by police from Laohekou, Hubei province, on Thursday morning, three days after she went missing.

A male neighbor surnamed Gao, 57, was identified as the suspect in the girl's death and has been detained on Wednesday for allegedly killing her, according to a release posted by the city's public security bureau on Weibo on Thursday.

The release said the police began looking for the girl after they received a report that she went missing on Sunday evening. It also said Gao confessed to the killing during a preliminary interrogation.

The case is still under investigation. No further details were released.

Shangyou News, a news portal operated by Chongqing Morning News, reported on Thursday that the girl was playing outside as she usually did at around 2 pm on Sunday, but did not return home.

Her family members called police that evening after they failed to find her, the report said.

On Tuesday afternoon, the police brought a dog to the girl's home and let it sniff her clothes. Later, the dog stopped and barked at the gate of Gao's home, it said. However, no one was home.

At around 11:30 pm on Wednesday, Gao was detained by the police, and the girl's body was discovered in his yard at 3 am on Thursday, it added.

Some local residents close to Gao told the media that he had received administrative punishment before and has been living alone since he divorced years ago.