Tuesday 2 July 2013

Skeleton in scuba gear sparks mystery in Spain

A skeleton wearing a black and grey wetsuit, flippers and a carrying a backpack has been found floating in the Ibiza canal near Alicante, Spain. Carrying a Moroccan passport and a whole load of cash, police are trying to establish the person's identity.

The skeletal body was found by the crew of the yacht "Yaiza", 40 miles from Calpe, in a stretch of sea which separates the mainland city of Alicante from the island of Ibiza in the Balearic Islands. Spanish national daily El País reported on Tuesday that the skeleton was wearing a wetsuit, flippers and waterproof clothing, and was also carrying a backpack containing a Moroccan passport and cash.  
 
The body was collected by a Guardia Civil vessel and has been taken for forensic autopsy at the Alicante Institute of Legal Medicine.
 
Investigators are now attempting to trace the identity of the person using the items found with the body. Amongst the clues was a backpack bearing the logo "Keep Moving." On opening the backpack, police found a mobile phone, clothing perfectly preserved in waterproof packaging, a wad of cash worth €540 ($700) and a Moroccan passport. 
 
While the skeleton was wearing scuba clothing, no oxygen bottles were found. 
 
According to police, the currents and sea creatures in the area were responsible for stripping the body of flesh and reports stated that "not an ounce" remained.
 
While the passport was issued to a Moroccan man named Abdelaziz Elfayafi, born January 8, 1989 in Imzouren, it has not yet been officially confirmed that the body is indeed Elfayafi. 
 
However, police are theorizing that the victim may have been an immigrant attempting to cross the Strait of Gibraltar from Morocco to Spain. The body could have been swept by the currents to the location in which it was discovered. 
 
The city of Imzouren is small, with around 100,000 residents and located in the Rif region of northern Morocco, near Al Hoceima. According to police, thousands have emigrated from that area in recent years hoping for a better life abroad.
 
If the body does indeed belong to Elfayi, it seems that he has a profile on LinkedIn, the networking site, which shows him as holding an Accountancy and Information Management degree. 
 
Police found his curriculum vitae posted on several Internet sites, indicating that Elfayi speaks Arabic, French, English and Dutch, and reportedly his online information was last updated around a month ago. 
 
According to the Guardia Civil, there is no record of Elfayi in the Spanish databases and they will continue their inquiries with the help of authorities in Morocco.

To the source: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/353574

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