Investigators give details of kidnapping of U.S. citizen

By A.M. Costa Rica staff Walter Espinoza, General Director of the Judicial Investigation Organization, has provided more details about the investigation into the kidnapping of U.S. businessman, William Sean Creighton Kopko, which occurred on September 24, 2018. The Anti-Kidnapping Unit of the Criminal Investigations Department recounted the details of what occurred after Mr. Creighton left his job in San Pedro to go to his home in Curridabat*. That night, two transit officers, who are now suspected of being part of the kidnappers, one named Medrano-Vargas and the other surnamed Jirón López, followed Mr. Creighton. When they reached the site known as Granadilla* in Curridabat, the officers pretended they were making a routine traffic stop and asked him to pull the car to the side of the road. As Mr. Creighton complied a group of four men arrived at the site in a gray pickup truck and kidnapped the victim. Those suspects are identified as: Morales-Vega, the leader, Vega-Aguirre, Martínez-Chacón, and Ford- Dauman. Ford had been arrested for theft and resisting arrest. The men forced the victim into the pickup and drove to a property in the village of La Trinidad in Moravia* where the leader’s grandmother lives. Her surnamed given as Aguirre-Leal. One of the suspects, Ford-Dauman, drove the victim’s car away, but for reasons that are still not clear, he crashed the car in San Isidro in Heredia*. The suspect communicated with the other kidnappers to report what happened and then leaves the car at the crash site. This vehicle was confiscated by the police and investigative analysis was made to collect more evidence. After taking the victim to the property in La Trinidad in Moravia*, the suspects communicated several times with relatives of the victim. At first, they asked for a ransom of five million dollars but a payment of $ 950,800 was accepted. The payment was made in Bitcoin currencies in four different accounts. The fact that the payment was made in this type of virtual currency was of great help for the investigators who could follow the trail of the transaction until it reached three accounts belonging to three of the suspects. "One of the Bitcoin accounts was accessed from the house of Morales-Vega, identified as the leader, in Cartago* and this was one major clue that helped guide the investigation," said Espinoza. Once the kidnappers received the ransom, all communication between the suspects and the victim’s family ceased, said investigators. After accessing the account from Cartago*, the alleged leader, Morales-Vega, left the country by land to Panama, then traveled to El Salvador and Cuba before finally traveling to Spain where he goes to the city of Zaragoza. Two other people also leave Costa Rica. One is the leader's girlfriend, surnamed Solís Chaves and the leader’s mother, surnamed Vega-Aguirre. Both women travel to Cuba and then to Spain together. Once they had gathered sufficient evidence, investigators contacted the Organized Crime Unit in Spain. Spanish investigators placed the three suspects under surveillance and monitored them for a period of approximately one month until a simultaneous raid could be coordinated in Costa Rica and Spain. Spain: With the help of the National Police, there is a search of a house in the city of Zaragoza where the following people are detained: - A man surnamed Morales- Vega, identified as the leader. - A woman surnamed Solís Chaves, identified as the bride of the leader. - A woman surnamed Vega-Aguirre, identified as the mother of the leader. Costa Rica: Investigators detain the following people:

Policia Nacional de España courtesy photo A man surnamed Morales- Vega, identified as the leader, was detained in Zaragoza, España. -A woman surnamed Aguirre-Leal, identified as the leader's grandmother who lives on the property of La Trinidad in Moravia* where the victim was taken. -A woman surnamed Sanabria-Abarca, who is suspected of having done surveillance work on the victim. -A man surnamed Vega-Aguirre, the leader's brother and also part of the group of men who were in the pickup truck. -A man surnamed Martínez-Chacón, who was another of the four men who traveled in the pickup. -A man surnamed Ford-Dauman, who was the one who apparently handled the car of the victim which crashed the car in Heredia*. -A man surnamed Rivera Masis, 64 years old, alleged member of the gang. -A man surnamed Sánchez-Gamboa, alleged member of the gang. -A man surnamed Medrano-Vargas, a transit police officer. -A man surnamed Jiron-Lopez, a transit police officer. Investigators confirm that the Spanish police have already undertaken the extradition of the suspects to Costa Rica.  The Costa Rican detainees have been held in cells of the Judicial Investigation Organization since Friday. They are being interviewed and more evidence collection is underway. It is hoped that they will reveal the whereabouts of the victim. Among the results of the investigation are: seizure of vehicles, evidence linking the suspects to the withdrawal of the money, information on the distribution of that money to members of the gang, communications between the suspects, and records confirming the places where some of the suspects surveilled and tracked the victim. Investigators theorize that Mr. Creighton was targeted for two reasons, the victim had an important income as result of his company of sport-books, and the gang members knew that the victim’s business involved Bitcoin.  They probably thought that transactions in Bitcoins were more difficult to detect. Investigators are continuing to interview the suspects and are searching for clue at the sites raided on Friday. The major investigation is not in the property where the victim was hidden in La Trinidad in Moravia*. Espinoza reports that investigators are trying to establish what happened to the victim and are continuing to investigate new possible sites. “We are not going to rest until we know what happened to Mr. Creighton. We hope to find him alive, but we must find him in whatever conditions he is," said Espinoza. ---- What should the police do to prevent officers from turning to crime? We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to: news@amcostarica.com *Click on the blue letters to reach the place in google maps.

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