California surfing “king” Kurt Van Dyke was found stabbed and strangled to death in his Costa Rica home and police are searching for at least two men in connection to the killing.
Van Dyke, 66, was found lifeless and stuffed under a bed on Saturday at his apartment in the city of Limon, the local Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ) reported.
Van Dyke, who had owned a hostel for surfers in Puerto Viejo on the country’s Caribbean coast for many years, was with his girlfriend when the intruders barged into his residence, the OIJ said.
Following the attack, the robbers fled with some valuables and a 2013 Hyundai Elantra that belonged to the girlfriend, according to the OIJ.
Van Dyke’s body showed signs of strangulation and stab wounds, the OIJ said. And he was found with a sheet covering his head.
The girlfriend, who the authorities did not identify, “escaped without serious injuries,” The Associated Press reported.
The Los Angeles Times reported that the girlfriend’s last name is Arroyo and that the 31-year-old woman, who was in the shower when the robbers broke in, had been restrained with zip ties.
Van Dyke, a U.S. citizen who hailed from Santa Cruz, California, was part of a well-known surfing family.
His father, Gene Van Dyke, helped popularize surfing in Northern California.
His mother, Betty Ann Van Dyke, was the daughter of Croatian immigrants and part of a “pioneer group of early modern day female surfers,” according to her 2021 obituary.
Van Dyke’s death sent shockwaves of disbelief through the California surfing community.
“My brother was a very benevolent, giving person who would help just about anybody,” Kurt’s brother, Peter Van Dyke, told the San Francisco Chronicle via text. “Kurt would never hurt anybody, and he was always there when you needed him. Everyone that he met knew this about him.”
Van Dyke was 7 when he first started surfing and quickly made a name for himself on Santa Cruz surfing scene. He first came to Costa Rica’s southern Limón province in 1983 to ride the Salsa Brava, which are high-intensity and often dangerous waves similar to those found in Hawaii.
“Van Dyke became known among the Caribbean coast’s surfing community as ‘King’ for his mastery of big waves,” The Chronicle reported.
