Kurt Van Dyke’s former girlfriend arrested in brutal slaying of surf legend

Ugly twist to ugly case.

Early last year, the surf world received horrific news of the grisly murder of surf royalty Kurt Van Dyke. The Santa Cruz surfer had been living in Costa Rica where he owned a hotel. In February, the 66-year-old was found dead in his nearby home. He had been stabbed multiple times and asphyxiated. A woman with the surname Arroyo was there at the time. She was Van Dyke’s former girlfriend and told authorities that three men had burst into the home and zip tied her in another room then stole her car.

This morning, she was arrested under the suspicion of helping facilitate the attack.

Vladimir Muñoz, deputy director of the investigative agency, believes that the men were attempting to get Van Dyke’s bank card codes, torturing him before eventually killing him. They then faked the auto theft in order to draw suspicion away from Arroyo. The car was found nearby, and without damage, raising questions about what actually happened.

A man with the surname Gutierrez was arrested alongside Arroyo. The police are still looking for two suspects.

Van Dyke first went to Costa Rica in 1983 and became famous for his slick mastery of Salsa Brava. Before emigrating permanently, and starting the aforementioned hotel, he helped rule Santa Cruz alongside his pioneering mother and father, Gene and Betty, and brother Peter.

“Kurt loved the ocean, our farm, animals and his family,” Peter told the San Francisco Chronicle in February. “It’s a very sad time because of all the great memories we have growing up together, farming and surfing.”