Hong Kong (CNN) -- A car theft in China that spiraled into a manhunt and a baby's killing has left the country grieving and sparked outrage on social media. 

The body of the infant, whose name was Haobo, was found buried in the snow Wednesday. His father, Xu Jialin, said he and his wife identified their two-month-old son, according to state-run news agency Xinhua. 

Thousands gathered in a square Tuesday night in Changchun, the capital of Jilin Province, to mourn the baby, killed by "a thief who found the missing boy sleeping in a car he had stolen," Xinhua reported. 

The 48-year-old man, identified as Zhou Xijun, turned himself in to police Tuesday and confessed that he had killed the baby and buried him in the snow, Xinhua reported, citing local police. 

Xu, the father, had parked his car Monday in front of the supermarket he runs in Changchun and entered the store to turn on a stove, leaving his son in the back seat with the car's engine still running, according to state-run news reports. 

Xu returned minutes later to find his car was missing. He called police immediately. 

Zhou had allegedly stolen the grey Toyota SUV and discovered the child on the backseat as he drove the vehicle away. 

More than 8,000 police and hundreds of volunteers joined a search for the child for two days. 

Zhou has confessed "that he parked the car on the roadside and choked the baby about an hour after he stole the car. He then abandoned the baby's clothes and the car in the nearby city of Gongzhuling," Xinhua reported. 
When?
choked the baby about an hour after he stole the car. 