Murder solved with help of Google Street View images: police
Two images captured by Google Maps led to this man being arrested on murder charges (Google Maps via Storyful)
SORIA, Spain - Two people accused of killing and dismembering a man in a possible "love triangle" have been arrested, with some major help from Google Maps.
According to authorities in Spain and El País newspaper, the investigation began in November 2023, when someone called police and reported a Cuban family member missing in Soria, Spain, a remote town with few residents. Reports say the victim had gone from Cuba to Soria "in search of his wife."
Nearly a year later, in October, Google Maps published "street view" images of the remote region and reportedly caught one of the victim’s killers in action. It had been 15 years since Google Maps had last visited the area, local reports say.
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One Google Street View image shows a man wearing jeans, a blue jacket of a local football team, and brown boots, hunched over his car trunk reaching over a long white bag.
A second photo from further down the road shows a blurred silhouette of someone dressed in dark blue carrying what appears to be a white bundle in a wheelbarrow.
Police said those photos were a "decisive clue" that led to the arrest of two people – the man in the photos and the victim’s estranged wife. Authorities said phone calls between the couple, intercepted by police, also led to their arrests. Police haven’t determined a motive yet, they said.
The dismembered remains of the man's body were found Dec. 11 in an ancient cemetery in Soria.
Unilad reports that both suspects are behind bars.