A Florida sheriff says investigators are considering "ritualistic sacrifice'' among the possible reasons a 3-year-old boy was killed and stuffed into a suitcase.

Bay County Sheriff Frank McKeithen says the child's 27-year-old mother, Egypt Moneeck Robinson, is suspected in the death. She faces a murder charge but hasn't been booked into jail because she's being treated for "self-inflicted'' knife wounds. The boy's body was found Tuesday night in the water behind their house near Panama City.

The News Herald of Panama City reports that the woman made statements while being taken to the hospital about needing to save the child from the end of the world.

McKeithen says investigators haven't determined when the child died. He says Dec. 26 was the last time anyone other than Robinson saw him.