A man has been arrested on suspicion of murdering his mother in the Canary Islands and dumping her body in a landfill, according to reports.
Katty Oosterlinck, a Belgian ex-pat living in Spain, was reported missing Monday after her relatives and friends weren’t able to contact her for days on end. Her 22-year-old son is now in custody according to People.
Her body was found Friday at the Zurita waste processing facility on the island of Fuerteventura, where she lived, Belgian outlet Nieuwsblad reported.
“She has lived in Corralejo [a town on the island] for a long time; many people know her because she can always be found in the town,” a friend of Oosterlinck told Belgian outlet HLN News.
Katty Oosterlinck’s son was arrested in suspicion of her murder. Katty Oosterlinck/FAcebook Oosterlinck’s body was dismembered when it was recovered at the dump, Spanish outlet Canarias 7 reported.
Her 22-year-old son was arrested by the Spanish Guardia Civil’s Judicial Police unit in Las Palmas Friday afternoon, following a day-long investigation. He is considered the prime suspect in the case.
Locals formed search parties to try to aid police in finding the missing 56-year-old woman, who her friend claimed also had a daughter.
I last saw her on the beach on Sunday afternoon. We haven’t heard from her since, not even her daughter,” the friend said.
Her body was found in a landfill. FCCMA Police reportedly reconstructed the events surrounding her murder with the suspect and visited her home in Corralejo and other locations possibly connected with the crime.
Oosterlinck’s body was transferred to the Institute of Legal Medicine of Las Palmas and will be examined to determine her cause of death.
Authorities have not yet revealed how the woman died, or other details surrounding the alleged crime, and the investigation is ongoing. The name of her son has also not been released.
The case has sent shockwaves across the Spanish ex-pat community, according to The Spanish Eye.
Ex-pats living in Spain, particularly those from Belgium were left shaken by Oosterlinck’s death, and were closely following the case, the outlet reported.
