Suspected killer of Audrey Fang identified as Mitchell Ong, had reportedly known her for years

43-year-old Singaporean Mitchell Ong remanded in custody over alleged killing of Audrey Fang

The identity of a Singaporean man suspected of killing fellow Singaporean Audrey Fang in Spain has been revealed after he appeared in court.

His name is reportedly Mitchell Ong.

The 43 year old had apparently known Ms Fang for years, according to a former colleague.

Mitchell Ong appeared in court over suspected killing of Audrey Fang

A man named Mitchell Ong appeared in court on Friday (19 April) over the suspected killing of Ms Fang, 39, reported Spanish news outlet La Verdad.

Other Spanish media outlets like Levante El Mercantil Valenciano identified him by the initials “O.M.”

As he was led out of a police van in handcuffs to attend court, he was noticeably taller than the two officers guarding him.

During the hearing, he invoked his right not to testify.

The judge ordered that he be remanded in provisional detention without bail.

Mitchell Ong was in Spain at the same time as Audrey Fang

After Ms Fang’s disappearance, her family reportedly scoured social media for clues about her whereabouts and came across Ong’s Instagram profile.

They discovered that he was also in Spain, possibly due to his most recent post dated 4 April — one day before Ms Fang arrived in Spain and five days before she was last seen.

In that post, he posed at a comic book store in the city of Alicante, where he was eventually arrested by the police.

He describes himself as 1.88m-tall gym bro

On Ong’s Instagram profile, he describes himself as a towering 1.88m-tall “Power Asian”.

He’s also apparently a “bro” of the International Fitness and Bodybuilding Federation (IFBB). This is evidenced by his muscular figure and the numerous photos of him working out at the gym.

La Verda described him as someone who dressed in expensive clothes, stayed in luxury hotels and rented high-end cars.

Large amount of cash found in his hotel room

Ong was arrested by Spain’s Civil Guard — its national police force — on Tuesday (16 April).

His hotel room in Alicante was subsequently searched in his presence, according to video footage released by the Civil Guard on X.

The search turned up a large amount of cash, reported Levante El Mercantil Valenciano.

He was also wearing sneakers worth €1,000 (S$1,451) despite having no known job.

Audrey Fang had known him for years

A former colleague of Ms Fang’s recalled to her family that she had mentioned Ong a few years ago and it’s clear to those who knew her that the two had known each other.

However, the exact nature of their relationship was unclear even to her loved ones as they said that she was a very reserved girl.

According to The Straits Times (ST), Ms Fang had mentioned to her family that she might be meeting a friend in Spain but didn’t share further details.

A Civil Guard spokesman also told ST that the two may have had a romantic relationship.

A bouquet of flowers was seen in his hotel room when the Civil Guard searched his hotel room.

However, the family believe there was an “economic motive” behind her death and has ruled out that the two had a business partnership.

Adding weight to this hypothesis is the consideration that she was recently involved in some investment fund and had recently transferred money to an unidentified third party, according to La Verda.

Ong also had a Ukrainian partner and was scheduled to meet them at the hotel.

Police traced car that Audrey Fang got into

Ms Fang’s body was found on 10 April the night after she was seen getting into a car outside her hotel.

The Civil Guard managed to trace the car’s whereabouts via CCTV footage, proving that it had travelled to Alicante, then Abanilla, the municipality where her body was found.

Ong was also caught on camera at a carpark in Alicante.

She died from knife wounds and head trauma

During the autopsy, it was found that Ms Fang had died from injuries caused by a knife and head trauma from a strong blow to the head.

However, the coroner found no traces of sexual assault.

She was identified by her brother, who was also in court accompanied by two other relatives.

Her remains are expected to be released over the next few hours, subject to authorisation from the court.

Also read: Video shows car picked up S’porean woman in Spain before her body was found

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Featured image adapted from Mitchell Ong on Instagram and Fang Dirou on Facebook.