A surprising series of Google Street View images, including one that apparently shows a body being loaded into the trunk of a car, may have helped solve a grisly love triangle murder in a town in Spain.
Remarkable images, captured in October by a Google camera car passing through the small village of Tajueco, show a man in jeans leaning over a red car with a large white sack in the trunk.
In a chilling twist, a second set of images shows a man in a similar suit dragging a wheelbarrow down a hill carrying what appears to be a white bag, just meters from where the car was parked.
Spanish police say initial photographs of the car may have helped open the case of a missing husband, believed to have been murdered and dismembered after he disappeared last year.
The body of the unnamed Cuban victim, referred to only by his initials JLPO, was found in a nearby cemetery last week when police revealed they had been helped by Google Street View.
Investigators say it was these photos that helped them focus their attention on the victim’s wife and his new partner, identified by El País as Manuel Isla Gallardo, before wiretaps revealed their involvement.
A frame captured by Google’s camera shows a person dressed in dark clothing pushing a wheelbarrow carrying a large white package.
The photo shows a man carrying what appears to be a body bag into the trunk of a red car, local media report.
The person, who can only be seen from afar and is not visible in closer shots of the road, is located around the corner where the red car was parked.
Photos still available online show a figure at the top of Calle las Eras on an unknown day in October.
Moving down the road and out of town, the figure suddenly disappears.
The outskirts of town are dotted with farm buildings and gravel roads, but the figure cannot be seen again.
Upon arriving in town, the Google car collecting the photos turns a corner, making it impossible to know where the figure went next.
But right next to the road, a man in dark clothing is seen stacking a white bag in the trunk of a car.
Police say these images were key in helping them solve the mysterious disappearance of victim ‘JLPO’, who was reported missing in November 2023, according to The Country.
The victim’s cousin who lives in Zaragoza, reported the disappearance and said that they became suspicious when they began to receive strange messages from him on WhatsApp.
They said JLPO told them they had met a woman and planned to leave Spain and her phone.
The family member did not believe JLPO was speaking to them and soon contacted the police.
The couple at the center of the love triangle were arrested on November 12, 2024, after viewing the Street View footage, although the motive is still being properly investigated.
The victim reportedly found out about their affair and the couple illegally detained her and killed her some time later.
Police investigations took them to a cemetery in nearby Andalusia, where they found “the torso in an advanced state of decomposition” on December 11.
They said they were still searching for other body parts.
Google Street View images show the red Rover parked on the side of the road, with the trunk open.
The identification of the body found in the cemetery was complicated by the advanced state of decomposition of the remains, but the police still presume that it belongs to the missing Cuban.
The photo shows a man carrying what appears to be a body bag into the trunk of a red car.
The investigation led police to several properties in Soria, a province in central Spain, and to several excavations in the town.
But they say the crucial clue was provided by a Google Street View image showing what appeared to be a man carrying a large bag into the trunk of a car.
Investigators then turned their attention to Gallardo, 48, who allegedly ran a bar in nearby Bayubas de Arriba at the time.
It is not clear who the person carrying the trunk is in the images.
And it was unclear whether the figure who appeared to be holding a wheelbarrow was the same as the man carrying a car.
The person, who can only be seen from afar and is not visible in closer shots of the road, is located just around the corner where the red car was parked.
Wiretaps revealed that both the wife and Gallardo were involved in the man’s disappearance, but it has not been reported how this led investigators to the cemetery where the Cuban’s remains were found.
They were arrested on November 12 and have remained in provisional custody since then.
After the discovery of the man’s dismembered body, forensic experts investigated the burial site in the cemetery before transferring his remains to the Institute of Legal Medicine of Soria for analysis.
Identification of the body was complicated by the advanced state of decomposition of the remains, but the police still assume that they belong to the missing Cuban.
The Andalusian cemetery has been closed for days following the gruesome discovery.