Two arrested after Google Maps image provides a clue in the case of missing persons

CNN
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Police in Spain have arrested two people in connection with a missing persons case after a Google Maps vehicle captured an image of a person apparently loading a large object into the trunk of a car.

A man and a woman have been detained in connection with the disappearance and death of a missing man, police said in a statement on Wednesday.

A relative of the man reported him missing last November after receiving suspicious messages from his phone, the police said.

Although the couple previously spoke often, the man suddenly told his relative in the messages that he had met a new partner, wanted to move to another part of the country and needed to get rid of his phone, according to the affidavit.

The report sparked an investigation, with police discovering the Google Maps image they say may show a vehicle used in a crime.

The photo, which still appears on Google Maps, was taken in the streets of Tajueco, a small village in the province of Soria in the region of Castilla y León in northern Spain, in October.

It shows a person leaning into the trunk of a red car containing a large object wrapped in a bright cloth.

This was the first time a Google Maps vehicle had visited Tajueco to update images of the village since November 2009, according to Google Maps data.

On November 12, the police arrested the missing man’s ex-boyfriend as well as another man who had previously been in a relationship with the woman, alleging their involvement in the man’s death and disappearance.

Police also recovered a badly decomposed torso, which has not yet been formally identified but which police said could belong to the victim, from a cemetery in a nearby village on 11 December.

The investigation continues.