A 69-year-old woman is being held in the death of a 7-year-old boy she was looking after in southern Germany.

The child was found dead Saturday in a bathtub at the woman's home in Kuenzelsau, 70 kilometers (45 miles) east of Heidelberg. The German news agency dpa reported Monday that the boy had been strangled and was likely dead before he was put in the bath.

A spokesman for Heilbronn prosecutors, Harald Lustig, declined to confirm or deny the report but said officials would provide an update later Monday.

The woman, who wasn't named, was arrested Sunday. According to reports she had been regularly minding the boy for several years.

A judge has ordered her held in prison while the investigation is pending.