BUCHEON -- A couple was arrested Friday after their child was found dead and mutilated, police said.

Police discovered the boy's body earlier in the day at the home of an acquaintance of the father in Incheon, west of Seoul.

During questioning, the father said he mutilated and froze the body after his son died, recently transferring it to his acquaintance's home. He denied, however, that he killed his son.

The acquaintance said he did not know what was in the bag that carried the body, police said.

Police launched an investigation Wednesday upon receiving a request from an elementary school to determine the whereabouts of a student who has been absent since April 2012.

Police plan to have an autopsy conducted on the body to determine the cause of death. (Yonhap)