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The brother of the California surfing legend brutally murdered in his Costa Rica home believes his sibling was randomly attacked by crooks who unleashed a reign of terror in idyllic locations — after warning that the killing is ‘more nefarious’ than reported.
“’We can’t see any reason why this happened other than a random act of violence but we don’t know yet, we’re waiting,” Kurt Van Dyke’s brother, Peter, told the Daily Mail on Tuesday.
Peter believes 66-year-old Van Dyke, who was stabbed several times by two armed burglars in his Cahuita home Saturday, was the victim of a robbery, alluding to crime in Costa Rica.
He claimed crooks are leaving countries such as El Salvador — home to the maximum-security lockup CECOT — to unleash their terror elsewhere.
“So they’re leaving those countries and going to the neighboring countries where they can operate freely,” he said.
“The Caribbean side is the corridor for drug running, they’ve been drug running along there for a long time, but it was never as violent as it is now.
“I think it was a robbery because crime is pretty much rampant in a lot of areas of that country right now, especially on the Caribbean side.”
The State Department warns American travelers heading to the country to be cautious.
“Petty crime is common throughout Costa Rica. Violent crime also affects tourists. This includes armed robbery, homicide, and sexual assault,” a State Department warning says.
Van Dyke was found with a sheet over his head, while his girlfriend Arroyo, 31, was held at gunpoint and assaulted.
Her hands and feet were bound together with zip-ties before the crooks fled in the couple’s 2013 Hyundai Elantra. Cops found a knife at the scene.
Costa Rican cops have not made any arrests and are still investigating the motive behind the killing. Peter Van Dyke doesn’t think the killing was fueled by revenge and said his brother didn’t hint at any potential adversaries in past conversations.
“I don’t really think he had any enemies. I can’t imagine that, he never said anything about that,” he said.
But on Monday, Van Dyke warned the California Post that the killing is “more nefarious” than a random break-in.
Van Dyke, originally from Santa Cruz, Calif., owned the Hotel Puerto Viejo for the past four decades and was adored by local residents, according to his brother.
“He was a very benevolent man. He was giving, he helped a lot of people in the town and the whole town where he lived is very upset,” Peter Van Dyke told the Mai.
“Kurt would never hurt anybody, and he was always there when you needed him. Everyone that he met knew this about him.”
Van Dyke’s primary cause of death appears to be asphyxiation.
Van Dyke was part of the California surfing dynasty. He built up his name as a standout surfer and was known as “King” on the Caribbean coast.
His mom, Betty, was part of a pioneering group of early female surfers, according to a 2021 obituary.
Betty’s first husband, Gene Van Dyke, was a well-known California surfer.
With Post wires.
English (US)