Trail of Google Street View clues that snared a killer: A mystery figure with a wheelbarrow, a ‘body’ getting stuffed in a car boot… the astonishing train of events that solved a village murder
An astonishing series of Google Street View images – including one apparently showing a body being loaded into a car boot – may have helped solve a gruesome love triangle murder in a village in Spain.
Remarkable photos taken in October by a passing Google camera car in the small hamlet of Tajueco show a man in jeans standing over a red car with a large white bag in the trunk.
In a chilling twist, a second set of images shows a man in a similar outfit rolling down a hill in a wheelbarrow with what appears to be a white bag – just meters from where the car was parked.
Spanish police say the first car photos may have helped crack open the case of a missing husband who is believed to have been murdered and dismembered after disappearing last year.
The body of the unnamed Cuban victim, identified 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 shift attention to the victim’s wife and her new partner, identified as Manuel Isla Gallardo, before wiretaps revealed their involvement in JLPO’s sudden disappearance.
An image captured by Google’s camera cart shows a person dressed in dark clothing pushing a wheelbarrow with a large white package in his hand
The photo shows a man loading a body bag into the trunk of a red car, local media report
The person, who can only be seen from a distance and is not visible in close-ups of the road, is just around the corner from 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.
As we continue up the road and out of town, the figure suddenly disappears.
The outskirts of the village are littered with farm buildings and gravel paths, but the figure is no longer visible.
As we drive into the village, the Google car collecting the photos turns a corner, making it impossible to know where the figure went next.
But near the road, a man in dark clothing is seen stacking a white bag in the trunk of a car.
Police say these photos were crucial in solving the mysterious disappearance of victim ‘JLPO’, who was reported missing in November 2023, per El Pais.
The victim’s cousin, who lives in Zaragoza reported the disappearance and said they became suspicious when they started receiving strange WhatsApp messages from him.
They said JLPO told them they had met a woman and planned to leave Spain and his phone behind.
The family member did not believe JLPO was speaking to them and quickly contacted police.
The couple at the heart of the love triangle was arrested on November 12, 2024 after seeing the Street View footage, although a motive is still under investigation.
It has been reported that the victim knew about their affair and was illegally detained and murdered by the couple sometime afterward.
The police investigation led them to a cemetery in nearby Andaluz, where on December 11 they found “the torso in an advanced state of decomposition.”
They said they were still looking for other parts of the body.
The Google Street View photos show the red Rover car parked on the side of the road, with the trunk open
The identification of the body found at the cemetery was complicated by the advanced decomposition of the remains, but police still believe they belong to the missing Cuban man.
The photo shows a man loading what appears to be a body bag into the trunk of a red car
The investigation took police to several properties in Soria, a province in central Spain, and to a number of excavations in the locality.
But they say the crucial clue was provided by a Google Street View image showing what appeared to be a man loading a large bag into the boot of a car.
Investigators then turned their attention to 48-year-old Gallardo, who was reportedly running a bar in nearby Bayubas de Arriba at the time.
It is unclear who the person is loading the trunk in the photos.
And it was not clear whether the figure appearing to be holding a wheelbarrow was the same as the man loading a car.
The person, who can only be seen from a distance and is not visible in close-ups of the road, is just around the corner from where the red car was parked.
Wiretaps showed that both the woman 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 man’s remains were found.
They were arrested on November 12 and have been in pre-trial detention since then.
Following the discovery of the man’s dismembered body, forensic experts examined the burial site at the cemetery before transferring his remains to the Soria Institute of Legal Medicine for analysis.
Identification of the body was complicated by the advanced decomposition of the remains, but police still believe they belong to the missing Cuban man.
The cemetery in Andaluz was closed for days after the gruesome discovery.