A heartbreaking case has emerged in which a young toddler allegedly endured unimaginable suffering in the final days of his short life, according to police.

The lifeless body of Erik Reichard was discovered on his parents' living room floor by officers who desperately attempted CPR on the two year old. He was pronounced dead at the scene, The Mirror reports.

Parents Trevor Reichard-Hayes, 39, and Katherine Carter, 31, had carried the boy downstairs after noticing he appeared blue and had stopped breathing. The father subsequently contacted the police, who arrived to discover a 'house of horrors' in which the young child had been living.

An officer at the scene observed "poor living conditions that included feces on the floor in the two children's rooms as well as an abundance of drywall and paint chips, dirt, and pieces of diapers [lying] everywhere as well as insects/bugs in the home," according to court documents obtained by PEOPLE magazine.

The parents, from Indiana, US, reportedly informed police that the last time they had seen Erik alive was at around 11pm the previous evening. The detective present concluded "based on my training and experience that the child had been deceased for several hours" and that the child was "blue and pale".

Officers further noted that the defenceless youngster was "extremely skinny" and covered in more than 40 sores or insect bites. Weighing a mere six kilograms, the mother informed police her son had been consuming his nappies. Detectives concluded the little boy was doing this "due to hunger".

His cause of death was determined to be severe dehydration and severe malnourishment as a result of neglect.

A post-mortem examination revealed that Erik's colon contained "foreign material with a gel-like substance and small white pieces". The report stated that "these findings were consistent with the gel found in the diapers worn by [Erik] as well as the material of the diaper itself. Some of the white material removed from the colon was also consistent with the drywall, paint chips, or spackling."

Following a thorough search of the property, police allegedly discovered faeces, torn nappies and fragments of drywall or spackling in one of the children's upstairs bedrooms.

Officers subsequently uncovered a small child's bed in a separate room, strewn with ripped up nappies, drywall debris and a potty filled with faeces and urine, which they noted "hadn't been cleaned in days or perhaps weeks".

In stark contrast to the squalor found in the child's room, police observed that the couple's bedroom featured "nice bedding", was tidily made, clean and free of clutter, unlike the remainder of the house.

The child's parents were arrested on 3 April on charges of murder, neglect of a dependent resulting in death, neglect of a dependent resulting in serious bodily injury and neglect of a dependent. Carter, the mother, is due in court on 14 May and Reichard-Hayes is expected to appear in court on 28 May.