Bookie found dead in Costa Rica nearly a year after kidnapping

An American bookie was found dead in Costa Rica last week, nearly a year after he was kidnapped in the Central American country and his family paid a $1 million ransom, a report said.

William Sean Creighton, the founder of offshore sportsbook 5Dimes, was discovered in a cemetery in the small fishing town of Quepos, the Costa Rican Judicial Investigation Department told ESPN on Monday.

Creighton, 43, of West Virginia, was abducted Sept. 24, 2018 after leaving the San Pedro offices of his online betting platform.

Costa Rican traffic officers had signaled for him to stop around 10 p.m. that night in the Granadilla de Curridabat neighborhood, when four men in a rented, gray pickup truck grabbed him, authorities said.

Early the next morning, Creighton’s relatives received a $5 million ransom demand. A $1 million ransom was ultimately paid in bitcoin, authorities said.

In January, a dozen people believed to have been involved in Creighton’s kidnapping were arrested during raids in Costa Rica and Spain, investigators said at the time.

They included alleged abduction mastermind Jordan Morales, who authorities believe was in the pickup truck during the kidnapping, as well as Morales’ mother Guiselle Vega Aguirre and another woman, Maria Fernanda Solis Chaves.

They were extradited from Spain to Costa Rica in late April and are awaiting trial on charges of extortive kidnapping.

It’s unclear how Creighton’s body was discovered in the cemetery, which is located about three hours away from the abduction site. Authorities also haven’t said how they identified his remains or if more charges are forthcoming.