Caught by Google Maps While Transporting a Dismembered Body in Soria

One picture is worth a thousand words. A red car, a hunched man, and a large white bag. This composition was enough for the National Police to solve a crime that had been unresolved for over a year. No witnesses, no fingerprints, and no blood traces; the evidence that cracked the case was Google Maps' Street View.

Every so often, the search giant's vehicles traverse streets and roads worldwide. A few days ago, one of these cars, equipped with numerous cameras on its roof, photographed every corner of Tajueco in Soria (Castilla y León). A routine visit until it reached El Norte street. There, an old red Rover was parked as usual, and next to it, a man was placing a large bundle into the boot. It might have seemed like an ordinary scene, but it was the key piece that solved the puzzle the National Police had been trying to complete since November 2023.

Since that date, national agents, along with the Civil Guard, had been searching for a 40-year-old Cuban man. The young man had come to Spain looking for his wife, and since then, his trail was lost. Nothing was known, and no one knew his whereabouts.

After a long period of investigation, a chance occurrence raised the alarm: the image of a man placing a large white plastic bag into the boot of a car on El Norte street in Tajueco.

Google found the answer to the National Police's search. The Rover belonged to the "Wolf of Tajueco." From that moment, the agents tapped the suspect's phone and discovered he was living with the Cuban wife of the missing man. After months of listening to the couple's conversations, both have been arrested and charged with the crime.

After ten months of investigation, the case is solved. The remains of the young Cuban man have been found dismembered in the cemetery of the municipality of Andaluz, just twelve minutes from where the crucial image was taken.