AUDREY FANG CASE: INVESTIGATORS IN SPAIN FIND EVIDENCE IN SUSPECT'S HOTEL ROOM

SINGAPORE, April 19 (Bernama) -- Spain’s law enforcement agency has uncovered evidence related to the murder of Singaporean woman Audrey Fang Dirou, aged 39, during a search of the hotel room occupied by a 43-year-old compatriot.

The Civil Guard in a statement on Friday said it managed to locate and arrest the Singaporean man on April 16 based on images from surveillance cameras, which showed Fang was picked up by a vehicle outside the hotel she was staying the day before her death.

“Although the dark images did not provide precise information such as the license plate, the Civil Guard managed to find out the make and model of the vehicle after analyzing the size and shape of its front and rear lights.

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“This is how they (investigators) managed to follow their trail, tracing the car's round trip route. His starting point was a parking lot near a hotel in Alicante, from where he traveled to the hotel in Jávea where the victim was staying, and later to the municipality of Abanilla,” said the Civil Guard, one of two police forces in Spain.

The agency said once the vehicle and the hotel were located, a surveillance mechanism was established until the suspect was arrested.

The victim who travelled solo to Spain for holiday, checked into a hotel in Javea town in the province of Alicante, Valencia on April 4 and was due to check out on April 10.

According to several media reports, the victim last spoke to her family on April 9 and spotted on CCTV walking out of her hotel at around 8.45 pm the same day.

Meanwhile, Spain’s Olive Press today reported that the suspect was brought to court in Cieza, Murcia on Friday where the victim’s family lawyer Manuel Martinez requested the unnamed Singaporean to be sent to prison ahead of the trial.

Fang’s brother and two other relatives also attended the hearing.

Fang’s family contacted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) on April 11 after they were unable to contact her and made a police report a day later after she did not arrive in Singapore as scheduled.

The victim’s body with multiple stab wounds was discovered on April 10 in an area near the parking lot of a restaurant in Abanilla municipility of Murcia region, which is about 150 kilometre away from the hotel she stayed in.

The authorities were initially unable to confirm her identity as no documentation was found on the body.

-- BERNAMA