The world weeps for slain golfer
The family of an Iowa State University golf star is struggling to cope with her murder as people in her Spanish hometown pay tribute to the gifted athlete.
Women have been crying in the streets of Puente San Miguel in remembrance of Celia Barquin Arozamena, who was found dead Monday at Coldwater Golf Links in Ames, Iowa.
Flags in the small Spanish town flew at half-staff in her memory.
“We are all together, trying to put ourselves together,” her heartbroken brother, Andres. told CBS.
Arozamena, 22, was the reigning Big 12 champion and Iowa State’s Female Athlete of the Year for 2018. The school is planning to celebrate her life with a memorial at a football game Saturday.
Her coach, Christie Martens, said she had a “great light about her.”
“Our team has been sharing a lot of great memories,” Martens told Iowa State Daily.
“She brought flowers for every single one of her teammates on Valentine’s Day if they didn’t have a Valentine.”
Arozamena’s death also touched Spanish pro golfer Sergio Garcia, who shared his condolences on Twitter.
“Heartbroken over what happened to #CeliaBarquinArozamena. I had the plea- sure of meeting her and I know she was a special person,” he wrote.
“Sending my thoughts and prayers to her family and loved ones in this difficult time.”
A homeless drifter, Collin Daniel Richards, 22, is being held in lieu of $5 million bail for the murder.
Richards was arrested after a police dog traced the victim’s scent to a nearby homeless encampment, police said. Richards had recently told a pal there that he had “an urge to rape and kill a woman,” according to a criminal complaint.
Others near the camp told police that Richards had come back earlier that day, “disheveled and covered in blood, sand and water,” the complaint said.
The drifter has a lengthy rap sheet filled with domestic-abuse, assault and weapons charges. He faces a life sentence if convicted of the murder.