Albin Díaz, the Nicaraguan man that was arrested in relation to the murder of Arantxa López, a Spanish tourist, in Tortuguero, Pococí, Limón, last Saturday, was released by the Criminal Court of Pococí to the custody of the General Directorate of Migration, due to lack of sufficient evidence.

Díaz who is in the country illegally, was arrested on Sunday as the main suspect of killing Lopez. Walter Espinoza, Director of the Judiciary Investigative Police (OIJ), explained Monday during a press conference that they are waiting on the DNA results and other tests that will confirm or rule out Diaz as the author of the crime. OIJ suspects the woman was a victim of sexual assault.

The suspect will remain in custody of the Migration Authorities for 30 days while his deportation process is completed.

The district attorney office appealed the decision of the criminal court to release Diaz without any cautionary measures. For now, OIJ has the goal of getting the results of the forensic tests and gather additional evidence before the 30 days conclude.

The victim, 31-years-old, was not carrying any valuables at the time of the attack, she was walking by herself early in the morning on Saturday. She traveled from Spain with her husband and a group of 8 European tourists with the purpose of staying in Costa Rica for a 10-day period, they arrived August 1st. Her body also showed signs of strangulation.

Maria Amalia Revelo, Minister of Tourism, confirmed yesterday that the institution coordinated support for the family and friends of the Spanish tourist, providing transportation, lodging and the services of psychologists. The body was already released to her family.

In the case of the Mexican tourist that was also murdered this past weekend in Santa Teresa, Cóbano, Puntarenas, two men were apprehended as suspects of the crime. The Criminal Court dictated three months of preventive prison for one of the suspects while the other one was set free for lack of evidence. The decision was also appealed by the district attorney.

María Trinidad Mathus Tenorio was at Playa Carmen in Santa Teresa with another tourist native of England when the two women were approached by two men with the intention of robbing them, after a short struggle the English woman was able to escape and ran for help; the Mexican apparently was dragged to the water and killed by the one of the men.