A mother who claimed her baby was kidnapped from his pram outside her home is now being investigated by police, who suspect she may have dumped her son's body in a stream herself. 

Following the disappearance of three-month-old Adrian in the German town of Renningen, in the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg, on Thursday, the 32-year-old mother told police he had been kidnapped.  

A major search operation was launched, with drones and police dogs scouring the area. 

A baby’s body was found on Friday afternoon in the Rankbach stream, less than 24 hours after the three-month-old was reported missing. Bild reported that DNA analysis confirmed the body found was Adrian. 

Authorities have now said that the mother, who has not yet been identified, is under investigation on suspicion of falsely reporting a crime. 

She initially told police she had left her son on the pavement for just a few moments while she took her bags inside. She claimed that when she returned, the baby had vanished.

Investigating officials said: 'So far, the investigation has yielded no evidence whatsoever of the infant's abduction.'

They added: 'The investigations by the public prosecutor's office and the criminal police are ongoing.'

The baby's grandmother previously told BILD: 'My daughter came home from shopping, she had bags with her and wanted to carry them up to the second floor.'

Police are investigating whether the mother and child were followed as they walked home from the nearby shops, around 15 minutes from their house. 

They had gone out to buy a few items before the store closed at 10pm, and the baby was reported missing at 11.30pm, according to local reports. 

It comes after a separate shocking incident earlier this year, when a toddler was allegedly snatched by a homeless man inside a busy supermarket in Italy in full view of her horrified parents. 

CCTV footage captured the one-year-old girl being grabbed at a store in Bergamo.

The dramatic clip shows the family – mum, dad and their little daughter – calmly exiting through the automatic doors when a Romanian man suddenly approaches.

Within seconds, the suspect, dressed in a black hoodie and green trousers, lunges at the child and seizes her.

In a horrifying tug-of-war, the toddler is yanked in opposite directions as her desperate mother clings to her arms while the man grips her legs.

The girl's stunned father is seen jolting away from the shopping trolley he had been pushing before rushing to intervene.

Panicked shoppers quickly leap into action, surrounding the pair and helping wrestle the little girl back to safety.

A young girl with black hair can be seen frozen in confusion as the terrifying scene unfolds before her.

Moments later, security guards storm in and pin the alleged attacker to the ground as chaos erupts inside the store.

Police were called and raced to the supermarket, where officers secured the traumatised child before escorting the suspect to the station.