KUALA LUMPUR: A Singaporean man has been arrested in Spain following the finding of the body of Audrey Fang Dirou, a Singaporean woman reported missing last week.
Her body was found with more than 30 stab wounds at a lorry park in the Murcia district of Abanilla, 150 kilometres from the hotels where she was last seen alive.
The Spanish newspaper Olive Press reported that the body was discovered by a man on his way to breakfast at a restaurant near the RM-422 Fortuna-Pinoso road on April 10.
On April 16, the suspect, who had been staying in a hotel in Alicante, was detained by civil guards in the province and brought to colleagues in Murcia.
"The case is being handled by the Court of Instruction number 3 of Cieza (Murcia) and it is expected that the suspect will be brought before a judge within the next two days," it said.
Fang, 39, had travelled alone to Xabia, Spain. She left Singapore on April 4 and was due to return on April 12.
She was spending a few days at a luxury hotel in Javea with reservations made between April 4 and 10.
On April 11, her family lodged a report with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs because she had been uncontactable since April 10.
On April 12, Fang's brother, who was at Changi Airport to receive her, lodged a police report after finding out that Fang did not board her return flight.
The family discovered that she was last seen heading out of the hotel about 8.45pm (Spanish time) on April 9 but did not return while her belongings were still in the room.
According to Singapore's Straits Times, Fang had previously informed her family that she might be meeting a friend in Spain, but they were unaware of the friend's identity.
"Fang was an architect scheduled to commence a new job in May following a trip to Japan with her aunt and cousin at the end of April.
"This was not the first time Ms. Fang had traveled overseas alone," it said.