Kurt Van Dyke, a Santa Cruz native and the 'King' of big wave surfing in Costa Rica, was found dead inside his apartment in Cahuita, Limón province, in what police suspected was a brutal robbery. The sixty-six-year-old surfer's girlfriend was also found zip-tied and had suffered minor injuries. The case remains under investigation. View this post on Instagram Instagram PostPolice responded to an alleged armed home invasion at Van Dyke's apartment around 10:50 a.m. local time in Cahuita, a town in the Talamanca municipality on Costa Rica's Caribbean coast, according to the Judicial Investigation Agency.According to the agency's spokesperson, Carlos Valverde, two armed men allegedly invaded the house, held Kurt Van Dyke and his girlfriend, Arroyo.Arroyo, who was showering at the time, was reportedly attacked, forced into another room at gunpoint, and zip-tied. The armed men then ransacked the house searching for valuables before leaving the scene. Van Dyke's car, a Hyundai Elantra, was allegedly stolen by the armed men to be used as a getaway vehicle. Van Dyke was later found under the bed with a sheet covering his face and showed signs of multiple stab wounds and suffocation. He was declared dead at the scene. His girlfriend, on the other hand, survived and was taken to the hospital with injuries that are not life-threatening. As of now, no arrests have been made in connection with the incident, and the investigation is ongoing, with the police looking at the CCTV evidence.Kurt Van Dyke, the surfing legend from Santa CruzKurt Van Dyke, who hailed from Santa Cruz, came from a well-known surfing family with deep roots in Northern California surf history. His mother, who passed away in 2021, was a part of a group of early female surfing pioneers, while his father, Gene Van Dyke, was also a well-known surfer in Northern California.By the mid 1980s, Van Dyke had become a household name in the Central Coast surf scene. He then moved to Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, in Costa Rica, which is near the reef break called the Salsa Break. Kurt Van Dyke later went on to be called the "King of Salsa Brava" by the locals there for being one of the first surfers to frequently ride the strong and heavy waves. Van Dyke had opened a hotel there and became a longtime resident.Remembered by the people The death of the "King of Salsa Brava" shocked many, even the locals, as well as the surfing community. Many have sent their regards and paid tribute to the legendary surfer. His brother Peter Van Dyke, who was close to Kurt, said:"Everybody’s still in shock. There have been tears, conversations, reflections, memories. I think we’re all going through that process everybody goes through when somebody close to them passes."Roger Sans of the Southern Caribbean Chamber of Tourism and Commerce, who knew Kurt Van Dyke said:"For all of us, it was a shock that that happened, and we’re really sorry for the family and friends and everyone related to him. It’s a really sad thing that happened, and it’s really disturbing for all of us."Mikey Ciaramella, the Editor-in-Chief of Stab, added:“My personal experience with him has been pretty much exclusively at Salsa Brava. I first went over there in 2019, and I was pretty shocked and amazed when I saw somebody out there surfing a nine-foot longboard on a proper slab and getting legitimately barrelled in really big waves. And that was Kurt.”Mikey continued:“He would just stroke into these giant waves on his giant board, and he had it so dialled. He seemed to read the lineup better than anybody. And I came to learn that he’d been there for decades and decades and basically helped pioneer the wave. And he still dominated that wave to this day. I think he was 66 or something like that and was still getting crazy, crazy waves out there. I found him really impressive, and I looked up to him a lot.”The death of Kurt Van Dyke was tragic. He now leaves behind three children: the eldest, Salvador, who is 23 years old, Lulu, who is 21 years old and finally, Jacob, who is 7. The memorial services for the "King of Salsa Brava" will be announced soon by the family. Stay tuned to Soap Central for more information.