The person who gouged out the eyes of a six-year-old boy in Shanxi late last month was probably his aunt, police say, adding that she appears to have killed herself after the attack.
But some people remain unconvinced as the boy had described his attacker as a stranger.
The boy, Guo Bin, was found in a field, covered in blood and with his eyeballs gouged out, after he went missing on August 24. The case prompted widespread anger across the country, where many speculated his corneas had been stolen for cash.
The police said in a statement on Tuesday night that they had found blood belonging to the boy Bin on the clothes of his aunt, Zhang Huiying , according to Xinhua. Police have sent the sample for DNA testing.
Zhang, 41, was the wife of the boy's paternal uncle and worked on a local livestock farm. She killed herself by jumping into a well at her home on Friday, six days after the boy was attacked.
"How could she be so cruel?" the boy's mother asked the Shanghai Morning Post. "Her death ends all her troubles, but how about us?"