Denise Thiem had traveled the world before heading to Spain to hiked the famed Camino de Santiago pilgrimage. Then, on Easter Sunday, she disappeared. 
 
 Denise Thiem traveled to all seven continents, her brother Cedric Thiem said. He said she traveled frequently for personal reasons or for work. (Photo: Thiem Family) Story Highlights Her relatives and friends spent months pleading for more information 
 
 Their search may have come to a tragic end: News agencies reported the arrest of one man Friday 
 
 A body was found on the man's property, though it was not yet identified 
 
 UPDATE SATURDAY MORNING: Denise Thiem's family has released a statement. See their full message at the end of this story. 
 
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 Originally published 7:35 p.m. Friday, September 11, 2015: 
 
 After months of silence in the search for a missing Litchfield Park woman, a flurry of police activity in Spain ended with the arrest of a man suspected in her disappearance and the unsettling discovery of a body on the man’s property. 
 
 Denise Thiem, 41, went missing in April while hiking the Camino de Santiago, a popular trek that leads to a cathedral in Spain’s northwestern corner. Her disappearance launched a massive search effort — and increasing agony for Thiem's family and friends. For five months, the case seemed to stagnate, producing more questions than answers. 
 
 That changed Friday, with the first arrest made. 
 
 Citing an unnamed Spanish security official, the Associated Press reported the arrest happened Friday as about 300 officers searched the northern region of Asturias. Spanish TV showed footage Friday of officers at a small apartment building taking away the suspect, a bearded man. Multiple Spanish news agencies, citing anonymous officials, identified him only as 39-year-old Miguel Ángel M. B. 
 
 Several outlets reported the arrested man had told police he knew the location of Thiem’s body. El Pais, a major national newspaper in Spain, reported late Friday that police had found a badly decomposed body on the arrested man's property, but that officials had not identified it. Police also were testing biological matter discovered on a saw found at the same property, according to El Pais. 
 
 The Spanish National Police did not respond to an inquiry from The Republic and azcentral on Friday. 
 
 Thiem, who grew up in Arizona and attended Xavier College Preparatory, had traveled widely in the past. She lived with her parents and brother in Litchfield Park and had worked at PetSmart's corporate headquarters in north Phoenix before leaving her job for a round-the-world trip that would culminate in a hike on the Camino. 
 
 Tens of thousands of people walk various routes to Santiago de Compostela annually. Some do it as a spiritual quest; to complete the Camino is to end at the cathedral believed to house the remains of the apostle St. James. Others go for a physical challenge or a holiday. The hike was made more popular after release of "The Way," a 2010 film starring Martin Sheen that follows his character's soul-searching walk to Santiago after the death of his son. 
 
 Thiem had started her journey in Pamplona in March, planning to reach Santiago in about a month and a half. Instead, in the first week of April, she vanished from the trail. Thiem was last seen on April 5 — Easter Sunday — in the town of Astorga. Her disappearance prompted safety concerns about the series of pilgrimage routes, though Spanish tourism officials have continued to say the Camino is safe for foreign travelers. 
 
 Thiem's relatives and others who helped with the search had plead unsuccessfully for help from the government and a meeting with the U.S. ambassador to Spain. 
 
 The U.S. Embassy in Madrid declined comment about the arrest, the AP reported, citing privacy laws that prevent the disclosure of information about the case. A U.S. State Department representative told The Republic on Friday that they did not have any additional comments on the Thiem case and would defer to the local authorities regarding any developments. 
 
 Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, who also was familiar with the case, said in an e-mail statement that her office shared the Thiem family's frustration about the "lack of information and cooperation from various government entities." 
 
 Last month, Sen. John McCain wrote a letter to Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy requesting that the Spanish government allow the FBI to join the search efforts, but the request was never fulfilled. Friday evening, in a statement, McCain said, "We hope these latest developments begin to provide the answers that the Thiem family deserves." 
 
 A STATEMENT FROM THE FAMILY 
 
 "The family of Denise P. Thiem wishes to acknowledge the professionalism, skill and dedication of the Spanish National Police that led to the actions taken yesterday. They also wish to thank the Spanish people for their many prayers and heartfelt expressions of hope and concern during this long, painful ordeal of not knowing what happened to Denise. Finally, the family hopes that the body which the police recovered on September 11, 2015 can be identified quickly, and, if it is their beloved Denise, returned to the United States without delay so they and her friends can honor her life and conduct a proper and reverent burial." 
 
 Reporters Rafael Carranza and Bob Ortega contributed to this article. 
 
 AMERICAN GONE MISSING IN SPAIN 
 
 Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. 
 
 Read or Share this story: http://azc.cc/1F4NFCn ||||| MADRID (AP) — A body found on a rural property in northwest Spain is most likely that of an American woman who went missing while walking along a pilgrimage route, officials said Saturday. 
 
 Interior Minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz said evidence pointed to the remains being those of Denise Thiem and there were "well-founded suspicions" that the 39-year-old prime suspect arrested over her disappearance was responsible for her death. 
 
 A ministry spokesman had earlier said Miguel Angel Munoz had led investigators to his small farm near the Camino de Santiago, also called the St. James Way, after being arrested Friday in Asturias, 200 kilometers (124 miles) to the north. 
 
 The remains found at the property "effectively appear to those of Denise," Fernandez Diaz told reporters. 
 
 The minister said Munoz had been arrested when a police operation found him in the town of Grandas de Salime in the province of Asturias where he had fled. 
 
 Thiem, 41, of Arizona, was last seen April 5 walking along the route at the town of Astorga, 10 kilometers (6 miles) east of Santa Catalina de Somoza, which is also on the St. James Way and is the town closest to Munoz's farm, the ministry said. 
 
 The suspect was described by the ministry as a man who "was little-known in his own neighborhood and did not relate much to society." 
 
 Fernandez Diaz said the FBI had cooperated in the search, which at one point involved 300 police and military personnel as well as helicopters. 
 
 The Camino de Santiago has for centuries led pilgrims and tourists to the city of Santiago de Compostela at Spain's northwestern tip, where the cathedral is believed to house the bones of St. James, one of the 12 apostles of Jesus. ||||| A suspect in the disappearance of an American woman missing since April from a famed Christian pilgrimage route in northern Spain was arrested Friday and led authorities to the body of a woman, a Spanish security official said. 
 
 The arrest, and the discovery of the body, came after about 300 Spanish officers searched the area where Denise Thiem, 41, of Arizona was last seen April 5 in the town of Astorga. 
 
 Authorities were trying to determine whether the body was that of Thiem, said the security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of rules preventing the official from being named. 
 
 The official provided no details about the suspect or where the body was found. 
 
 Astorga is on the El Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route, also called the St James Way, which ends at the Roman Catholic cathedral in the city of Santiago de Compostela. 
 
 Spanish TV showed footage Friday of officers at a small apartment building taking away the suspect, a bearded man who appeared to be in his 30s. He was not identified. 
 
 The U.S. Embassy in Madrid declined comment about the arrest of the suspect, citing privacy laws that prevent the disclosure of information about the case. 
 
 Thiem's disappearance prompted safety concerns about the 470-mile (760-kilometer) series of pilgrimage routes, which tens of thousands of people walk annually. Some do it as a spiritual quest, while others go for a physical challenge or hike it for a vacation.
– The mysterious disappearance of an Arizona woman hiking a world-famous trail in Spain appears to have been solved, but in the worst possible way. Authorities there arrested a 39-year-old man and found a body on his property believed to be that of 41-year-old Denise Thiem, reports the AP. Tests to confirm are pending. Thiem went missing in April while walking the St. James Way, also known as the Camino de Santiago. The suspect, Miguel Angel Munoz, has a small farm in Asturias near the trail, which leads to a cathedral believed to house the remains of St. James the Apostle. Thousands of hikers from around the world make the pilgrimage each year, one that was popularized in the 2010 Martin Sheen movie The Way. Thiem, who was widely traveled, had quit her job working in PetSmart's corporate headquarters in Phoenix to make the hike herself, reports the Arizona Republic. She began in Pamplona in March and planned to finish in about 90 days. All was going well until she disappeared on Easter Sunday. Spain's interior minister says the remains "effectively appear to be those of Denise," adding that the suspect "was little-known in his own neighborhood and did not relate much to society." He reportedly led police to the body, reports ABC News.