Spain's Civil Guard says the bodies of a German woman and her 10-year-old son have been found in a cave in the Canary island of Tenerife and that the boy's father, who was also German, has been arrested.

The search began Tuesday, when residents found a 5-year-old boy near the town of Adeje. The Europa Press news agency reported that, speaking through a translator, the boy said his father had taken the family to a cave and attacked them but he had escaped.

Police arrested the father in his apartment in Adeje but he refused to say where the rest of his family was.

The Civil Guards say the missing mother and son were found Wednesday afternoon.

The volcanic Tenerife island in the Atlantic Ocean is a popular holiday destination.