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Police say the image, accidentally captured by a Google camera car, played a major role in cracking the case of a missing man, identified only by his initials, JLPO.
This was the first time in 15 years that Google’s Street View car had passed through Tajueco. (File pic)
A murder mystery that baffled the police for over a year has finally been solved, thanks to Google Street View. A photo, still accessible on Google Maps, shows a man allegedly loading a body bag into a red Rover car in the village of Calle del Norte, Tajueco, Spain. Police say this image, accidentally captured by a Google camera car, played a major role in cracking the case of a missing man, identified only by his initials, JLPO.
The Cuban man, who was reported missing in November 2023 by a relative, had come to the town in search of his wife, only to discover that she was having an affair. Investigators now believe that the murder was orchestrated by the wife and her lover, Manuel Isla Gallardo.
According to the National Police, “The complainant stated that he had received a series of messages from the missing man’s phone in which the latter told him that he had met a girl, that he was leaving Soria (a city in Spain) and that he was getting rid of the phone. All of this made the complainant suspect that the messages had not been sent by the missing man, so he decided to report it to the National Police.”
After JLPO’s relative filed a missing person report, the police investigated two towns in Soria, where they arrested both his partner and the man she was having an affair with. The two were charged with the illegal detention of the victim and withholding information about his whereabouts.
In a surprising twist, the Google Street View car, which had not visited Tajueco in 15 years, captured the crime scene during its last visit in October 2023.
The car passing through the small town happened to capture the sight while shooting 360-degree map footage.
The street appeared empty, with only a few cars visible. As the Google vehicle rounded a curve, it accidentally photographed Manuel Isla Gallardo loading something into his car.
According to Spanish-language daily newspaper, El Pais, local residents, who were out for a walk at the time, have been left shocked. They mentioned that Gallardo had never caused any trouble and didn’t have close relationships with anyone in the area.
Speaking to El Pais, a resident said, “We didn’t imagine he was doing anything strange and we didn’t give it any importance. He was solitary, we didn’t hear him talk about his life, he cooperated in the bar and lately he seemed to be integrating.”
After seeing the Google Street View evidence, the person added, “It doesn’t seem 100% that it’s him, it could be someone carrying firewood…but we didn’t think that in the photo of the trunk there could be a corpse either.”
The investigation took police to a cemetery, where they found JLPO’s mutilated torso that was decaying. As of now, the search for the remaining body parts is still ongoing.