A Belgian woman who vanished after messaging a friend to say she was heading to a party has been found dismembered at a rubbish dump in Spain’s Canary Islands, with her son now accused of her murder.
Katty Oosterlinck, 56, had not been heard from since May 4 after sending the message shortly before she disappeared on the island of Fuerteventura.
Concerned friends and family later reported her missing after repeated attempts to contact her failed, sparking a desperate search across the popular tourist island.
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The horrifying investigation took a dramatic turn on Friday when police discovered Ms Oosterlink’s body at the Zurita waste processing facility in Puerto del Rosario.
Authorities later arrested her 22-year-old son on suspicion of murder following what local media described as an intensive day-long investigation by the Spanish Guardia Civil’s Judicial Police in Las Palmas.
Investigators are understood to have reconstructed the alleged movements leading up to Ms Oosterlinck’s death before swooping on the suspect later that same afternoon.
Officers also searched her home in Corralejo, along with other locations believed to be linked to the investigation, The Sun reported.
Authorities have not yet revealed how Ms Oosterlinck died or the exact circumstances surrounding the alleged killing. Her son’s identity has also not been made public while the investigation remains ongoing.
Ms Oosterlinck’s remains were transferred to the Institute of Legal Medicine in Las Palmas, where forensic specialists are expected to conduct a full autopsy in the coming days.
The case has sent shockwaves through Spain’s expat community, particularly in Fuerteventura, where many foreign residents had closely followed appeals shared online after she vanished earlier this month.
The grim discovery comes just a year after another dismemberment case stunned the Canary Islands.
In April 2025, the body of Colombian woman Triana Arias was found on Los Enanos Beach in Gran Canaria after she reportedly told a friend she was attending a party and was never seen alive again. A bar owner in Las Palmas was later arrested over her alleged murder.
