Official: Arrest in Spain in case of missing American woman
MADRID -- A Spanish official says a 39-year-old man arrested on suspicion of involvement in the disappearance of an American woman who went missing while walking a pilgrimage route in April has led police to a body on his rural property in northwest Spain.
A regional government spokesman says Miguel Angel Munoz took investigators to his small farm near the Camino de Santiago, also called St. James Way, after being arrested Friday in Asturias, more than 120 miles to the north.
The body is most likely that of Arizona woman Denise Thiem, who went missing while walking along a pilgrimage route, Spanish officials said Saturday.
Interior Minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz said evidence pointed to the remains being those of Denise Thiem. He said there were "well-founded suspicions" that Munoz was responsible for her death.
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy wrote to John McCain, the U.S. senator for Arizona, to inform him of developments.
"The main suspect was arrested by the National Police and he confessed to them where Denise's body was to be found," Rajoy said in a letter made available to The Associated Press. "I want to convey the sorrow of the Spanish people for this tragic outcome."
Thiem, 41, was last seen April 5 walking along the route at the town of Astorga, six miles east of Santa Catalina de Somoza, the town closest to Munoz's farm, the ministry said.
Fernandez Diaz said the FBI had cooperated in the search, which at one point involved 300 police and military personnel.
The Camino de Santiago has for centuries led pilgrims and tourists to the city of Santiago de Compostela at Spain's northwestern tip, where the cathedral is believed to house the bones of St. James, one of the 12 apostles of Jesus.
Thiems' family released a statement published on the Arizona Republic's website:
The family of Denise P. Thiem wishes to acknowledge the professionalism, skill and dedication of the Spanish National Police that led to the actions taken yesterday. They also wish to thank the Spanish people for their many prayers and heartfelt expressions of hope and concern during this long, painful ordeal of not knowing what happened to Denise. Finally, the family hopes that the body which the police recovered on September 11, 2015 can be identified quickly, and, if it is their beloved Denise, returned to the United States without delay so they and her friends can honor her life and conduct a proper and reverent burial.