Two women arrested for dismembering young man’s body in Portugal

LISOBON: Police have arrested two young women suspected of killing and dismembering the body – cutting off his head, legs and arms and dumping them in different locations – of a computer specialist in the Portuguese city of Algarve.

Diogo Goncalves, a 21-year-old technician, was allegedly killed for money. The young man’s head was dumped at Pego do Inferno, a well-known beauty spot near Tavira, while his torso minus arms and legs which have still not been located, was thrown in a black plastic bag off a cliff near the town of Sagres.

Local media reported that two women, aged just 19 and 23, are believed to have killed Gonçalves in a physical confrontation after which they dismembered the body to hide it. The women do not have any criminal record and will be appearing before a magistrate to hear bail terms.

According to a police source, one of the girls was a friend of Diogo’s and knew that he had received a large quantity of money. The two tried to extort the money from him and then there was a confrontation that ended in the victim’s death. Police discovered the body part last week and had been working round-the-clock on this case.

Diogo Gonsalves worked at a 5-star resort and was reported missing on March 18. Last week, his friend posted on social media that his car had been located but there was no sign of him.

Police were called to the scene and a search led to the grim discovery of the young man’s torso partially covered by a black plastic bin bag. The torso was put inside the bag and then thrown into the spot from where it was recovered. The man’s severed head was found by a French couple over 140 kilometres at a well-known spot near Tavira. The arms and legs of the young man are still missing.

The victim was showing different behaviour recently but was seen as a good person by friends on social media. This is the second time tragedy has struck the dead man’s family as his mother was killed in a hit and run incident almost four years ago.