Last year, Spain had an unsolved case that occurred in October, and more than a year later, there was still no breakthrough. Unexpectedly, a clue emerged in a way no one could have anticipated…
Around October 2023, a man known only by the initials JLPO (full name not disclosed by foreign media) went to visit his wife in the northern province of Soria, Spain. However, shortly after, his cousin reported him missing, but he was never found, leaving him in a state of being neither dead nor alive.
The police believed that JLPO was involved in a love triangle before his disappearance. When he arrived, he discovered that his wife had married another man, 48-year-old Manuel Isla Gallardo, who was her neighbor. 
How JLPO exactly disappeared remains unknown to the public. Not long after, his cousin reported to the Spanish police that he had been in regular phone contact with his cousin, but later the phone went dead.
Recently, he received a strange message from his cousin through a chat app, saying he had fallen in love with another woman and decided to leave Soria immediately, leaving his phone behind.
The cousin found it strange that a grown man would play out a “love at first sight” scenario, and even stranger was the language used, which was completely out of character for his cousin. He suddenly realized that the person on the other end might not be his cousin at all, and he reported it to the police.
However, the clues ended there.
The place where JLPO’s ex-wife lived is called Tajueco, a small village with only 56 residents, where almost nothing ever happens, and police resources are limited.
Moreover, JLPO was of Cuban descent and only lived in Spain, so his disappearance as a foreigner might not have received much attention.
Thus, the case remained unsolved until a breakthrough came a year later. What happened?
Google Street View’s camera car arrived.
Google Street View is part of Google Maps, where Google employees drive around the world, capturing panoramic photos with cameras mounted on their cars. This allows you to see what a specific location looks like through Google Street View, including the buildings on the street, not just a name on the map.
(Google’s camera car)
Of course, this process takes a lot of time, so updates are not real-time; they are usually updated every few years.
As it turns out, the murderer was captured on camera while disposing of JLPO’s body…
In the Google Street View image, you can see a man stuffing something into the trunk of a red car… and that shape was unmistakably human.
(Image captured by Google Street View)
Although Google automatically blurs out faces and license plates, as mentioned before, Tajueco has only a few dozen residents, so a thorough investigation wouldn’t take too long.
According to Google Maps, the photo was taken this October, but JLPO had gone missing around this time last year. What happened in between has not been disclosed by the police, but the most likely scenario is that he was killed last year and the body was only disposed of recently…
In November, the police arrested JLPO’s ex-wife and her new husband, Manuel Isla Gallardo. Although it’s not confirmed who exactly was in the photo, the police believe it was Gallardo disposing of the body, and now both are charged with unlawful detention and murder.
On December 11, the Spanish police finally found JLPO’s remains in a church cemetery just outside the village, which had been missing for over a year. It was reported that he had been dismembered, and some parts of his body were still missing…
(The church cemetery has now been dug up)
One can only say that the two murderers were… quite unlucky.
The last time Google Maps updated the street view of Tajueco was in 2009. If Google had updated a few years earlier, or if Gallardo had disposed of the body a few minutes later, he wouldn’t have run into Google’s car…
Such a low-probability event being caught by the murderer is truly a case of “the net of heaven is vast, though its mesh is wide.”
Speaking of which, this isn’t the first time Google Maps has helped law enforcement solve a case.
In 2022, Italian police used Google Street View to catch a Sicilian mafia boss, and quite coincidentally, this mafia boss was also arrested in Spain…
The police first identified a fruit shop, El Huerto de Manu, possibly linked to the boss. They then noticed in Google Street View that two people were talking in front of the fruit shop, and although one person’s face was not visible, his physique matched that of the mafia boss…
(The Google Street View from back then, though the fruit shop has since closed and been replaced by a salon)
Following the leads, the police discovered that the fruit shop shared the same phone number with a local restaurant that had closed down years ago. Although the restaurant was no longer in operation, many photos remained on social media, one of which showed a chef standing next to a pizza oven.
Upon closer inspection, what chef? It was the mafia boss from back then!
Thus, the mafia boss, who had been sentenced for murder in 1999 and escaped in 2002, was finally captured 20 years later. Google Maps unexpectedly played a significant role.
What’s particularly chilling is that Gallardo’s act of disposing of the body can still be found on Google Maps. Given the update frequency of Street View, this scene might be searchable for years to come, making it arguably the most terrifying time capsule in the world…
The case is still ongoing, but with the body found, a conviction seems imminent, which can be seen as JLPO achieving his revenge… RIP.
