William Sean Creighton

Body of 5Dimes Founder Creighton Located as Investigation Continues

The United States State Department has confirmed that authorities in Costa Rica have recovered the body of kidnapped 5Dimes sportsbook founder William Sean Creighton from a small cemetery in that country last week. Creighton, who was known as 5Dimes Tony, was kidnapped on September 24, 2018, with that kidnapping soon followed by ransom demands.

Despite the payment of that ransom, Creighton was never released, At one point a few wees after Creighton’s abduction, Costa Rican news outlets reported the discovery of his body, though those reports proved to be incorrect at that time. In the past few days, Costa Rica’s national police force, the OIJ, confirmed the discovery of Creighton’s body from the small seaside village of Quepos.

The OIJ confirmed Creighton’s identity early, likely locating it from information received from one of the 12 people already in custody in connection with the kidnapping plot. The location of the cemetery in Quepos is roughly 100 miles from where Creighton’s SUV was forced off the road by multiple vehicles and where the abduction occurred.

The OIJ also sent notice of the discovery of Creighton’s body to the US State Department, which has been investigating the activities of the US-facing 5Dimes online sportsbook for several years. The State Department issued a brief statement to ESPN, which picked up the latest developments in the case. According to State, “We can confirm Costa Rican authorities identified the remains of a U.S. citizen in Costa Rica.”

The brief State Department message added, “We offer our sincerest condolences to the family on their loss. We are closely monitoring local authorities’ investigation into the cause of death. We stand ready to provide all appropriate consular assistance. Out of respect to the family during this difficult time, we have no further comment.”

As reported previously, Costa Rica’s OIJ unraveled the kidnapping-and-ransom scheme some time ago. Nine of the 12 people arrested were taken into custody in Costa Rica earlier this year. Three more people, including the scheme’s alleged mastermind, Jordan Morales Vega, were arrested in Spain (having traveled there by way of Cuba), and have already been extradited back to Costa Rica. Morales Vega was one of four men alleged to have been within the rented grey pickup that was the primary vehicle involved in the abduction, part of which involved forcing Creighton’s pricy SUV, a Porsche Cayenne Turbo, off the road in a Costa Rica suburb. The wrecked Porsche was later recovered from a separate location otherwise unrelated to the kidnapping.

Two of Morales Vega’s relatives, his mother, Guiselle Vega Aguirre, and companion Maria Fernanda Solis Chaves, also were extradited from Spain to Costa Rica in late April. All of those arrested face charges of extortive kidnapping. Creighton’s family paid roughly $1 million in Bitcoin to obtain his release, and those virtual funds have yet to be recovered.

5Dimes has continued on with its operations despite the loss of Creighton, who founded 5Dimes two decades ago. Creighton, 43 at the time of his disappearance, was a native of West Virginia and a graduate of the University of West Virginia who became a US expat in order to run the 5Dimes operation.

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