Body found ‘tied up and burned’ in tunnel under Tenerife main road

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Spanish police are investigating after a body was found “tied up and burned” in a tunnel on the side of a highway in Tenerife.

According to local news outlet El Dias, detective sources said the victim had suffered “clear signs of violence”, and was likely set on fire after being bound.

Footage from the area shows Guardia Civil investigating tunnels running underneath the TF-1 highway at La Listado in the municipality of Arico.

It is unclear how long the body had been there after it was discovered on Monday.

The body has not been identified but was discovered close to where Belgian couple Laura Trappeniers, 66, and Marc Olbrechts, 71, vanished on April 22.

They had lived on the island for 17 years before neighbours became concerned when their door was left open and their cat was left unfed indicating they had gone missing.

Their car, a blue Opel Mokka with Spanish plates, had also vanished. Five days later the body of Laura Trappeniers was found by fishermen in the Atlantic.

A plastic bag was placed over her head and both legs and one hand had been cut off, according to Belgian reports.

Authorities estimated she had died three days before being found.

Detectives have so far found no trace of Marc Olbrechts.

In June two suspects, a father and son, were arrested in Belgium and a third suspect was detained in Spain.

According to the Brussels Times, they admit knowing the couple as neighbours but insist they never had any conflict with them and had nothing to do with their disappearance.

They have pleaded not guilty and are awaiting trial.

The gruesome discovery comes on the same island on which Jay Slater, from Accrington, Lancashire, went missing following a music festival. After leaving with strangers he befriended at an afterparty, Jay attempted a 10-hour walk back to his accommodation after missing his bus.

Jay’s autopsy revealed that the teenager died after “a fall or plunge from height”, which left him with several broken bones.