Nearly nine months after a legendary surfer who grew up in Santa Cruz was found stabbed and asphyxiated beneath a bed in Costa Rica, authorities have reportedly arrested two people — including the victim’s girlfriend — suspected of involvement in his killing.
Kurt Van Dyke, 66, a longtime expat who owned a hotel in Costa Rica, was found dead at his home in Cahuita on Feb. 14 with multiple stab wounds and signs of asphyxiation. Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigation Agency, known as the OIJ, arrested the suspects early Thursday during raids on three homes in Roxana de Pococí, local news outlet Teletica reported.
Teletica’s report identified two suspects as a 31-year-old woman with the surname Arroyo and a 34-year-old man with the surname Gutiérrez. Previous reporting identified Van Dyke’s girlfriend, who was in the house during the attack, as a 31-year-old woman with the surname Arroyo. OIJ Deputy Director Vladimir Muñoz confirmed that Arroyo is suspected of helping to facilitate the attack, according to Costa Rican newspaper La Nación…