Kurt Van Dyke brutally tortured for his bank details before his death in Costa Rica: cops

Detailed summary

Investigators say the Santa Cruz surfer’s girlfriend let the attackers into his home, where they beat and tortured him for his bank card PINs, then faked a car theft to cover it up.

A legendary California surfer was tortured by intruders demanding his bank card PINs before he was found stabbed to death, Costa Rican cops revealed after arresting his girlfriend.

Investigators now believe 66-year-old Santa Cruz surfing legend Kurt Van Dyke was set up by the woman who was with him the night he died.

Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ) says the girlfriend, a 31-year-old identified only by her last name, Arroyo, helped the attackers get into Van Dyke’s home in Hone Creek, Cahuita, on Feb. 14, La Nación reported.

“The female had a relationship, as I said, with the American citizen,” Vladimir Muñoz, the agency’s acting deputy general director, told the outlet. He said investigators believe she was directly involved in the crime.

According to the police reconstruction, Arroyo was inside the house on Valentine’s Day when a 34-year-old man with the last name Gutiérrez came in with two other men.

The men allegedly went after Van Dyke to get the PINs for his bank cards. When he refused to give them up, they beat and tortured him, Muñoz said.

Van Dyke’s body was found under a bed. He had several apparent knife wounds and signs that he had been suffocated.

Early reports described a terrifying home invasion. Several armed men had stormed the property, and Arroyo was tied up by her hands and feet. She told police the attackers bound her and made off with valuables.

They believe the gang staged the theft of Arroyo’s car, which was parked at the house, to make the attack look like a robbery.

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