An image taken by Google Street View cameras showing a man loading a wrapped body into the trunk of his car in Tajueca, Spain may help solve a murder case. The Telegraph reports after Google published the image, the police renewed their investigation into a case involving the disappearance of a Cuban man.
A male torso was found in a nearby cemetery, confirmed to be that of the missing man who was named only by his initials, JPLO. The Street View images of the white bundle being loaded into the trunk of a maroon vehicle were published one year after the man was reported missing from his home in the Spanish city of Soria.
A cousin of the victim reported him missing in November 2023 after receiving odd text messages saying that he was leaving the country after meeting a woman and would no longer be using the same mobile phone number. The cousin said that he suspected the messages were not written by his missing relative because they were completely “out of character.”
The suspect, Manuel Isla Gallardo, is known in the small town as “The Wolf” and was arrested following the camera’s discovery along with his former partner.
According to The Telegraph, local media reported that it appears the three involved were part of a love triangle. The victim reportedly visited the area to find his former partner and upon doing so learned that she was in a relationship with another man. The exact relationship between the victim and the two suspects is still being investigated.
Locals who spoke to the local newspaper, El Pais, said the suspect recently lost his job running a bar and seemed “distracted.”
A judge ordered details of the case not to be released, but Spain’s National Police force revealed the information anyway, including the role Google Street View played in the investigation. Police are still trying to put pieces of the case together including identifying when the victim was killed and locating other body parts.
