Spanish police find body in refrigerator during sex assault arrest in Castellón

Discovery during operation

On Tuesday, National Police officers conducting an operation to arrest a man accused of sexual assault entered an apartment on Plaza Pintor Sorolla in Castellón. While searching the residence, they found the lifeless body of a man concealed inside a refrigerator. The officers had been deployed by the Family and Women’s Care Unit (UFAM) to locate the suspect, who was not present at the apartment at the time. The discovery opened a separate homicide investigation alongside the original assault case. Judicial authorities were briefed in a meeting on Wednesday morning as investigators continued to collect evidence and piece together the events leading to the death.

Arrest in Peñíscola

The suspect, who had been the target of the original operation, was located later that afternoon in the nearby town of Peñíscola. Following a request for assistance, Guardia Civil officers were dispatched to a second residential address registered to the man. His mother alerted the authorities that her son was with her, behaving erratically and threatening to take his own life. The suspect then attempted to flee and barricaded himself in an attic, but officers negotiated with him until he surrendered. He had ingested a quantity of pills and was subsequently transported to a hospital for medical evaluation.

Ongoing investigation

The investigation is being conducted by the Provincial Judicial Police Brigade and Scientific Police. Authorities are working to identify the victim, determine the cause of death, and establish whether the body may belong to a relative or someone close to the detained man. The autopsy, expected in the coming days, is anticipated to provide key information about how long the body had been hidden and the circumstances of the death. The case remains under judicial secrecy, and no further official details have been released.