Rio de Janeiro cops recover human remains near river while searching for three boys who were reported missing in December 2020
Authorities in Rio de Janeiro recovered human remains near a river where the bodies of three missing boys may have been dumped in December 2020.
The Baixada Fluminense Homicide Police Station made the gruesome discovery Friday morning, just two days after a man came forward and told authorities that his brother had a role in tossing away bags that contained the bodies of the missing children.
Brazilian digital news outlet G1 reported authorities found bones that resembled ribs as well as strands of hair. The evidence was transferred to the forensic unit at the Institute of Legal Medicine.
“We don’t know anything,” the uncle of one of the boys told online news portal Extra. “The police have not communicated anything to us officially. We still have the same suffering of not knowing what happened to the boys.”
Lucas Matheus da Silva, 9; Alexandre da Silva, 11; and Fernando Henrique Ribeiro Soares, 11, were last seen together the morning of December 27, 2020. They had left their home in Rio de Janeiro city of Belford Roxo and were going to play soccer at a nearby park. They were expected to return for lunch in the afternoon but never made it home. Police were tipped Wednesday about bags that were abandoned in an area along a river near Belford Roxo. On Friday, authorities found human remains, which were transferred to the Institute of Legal Medicine
Authorities in Rio de Janeiro searched the grounds of a river Friday in hopes of finding clues that would lead them to three missing children identified as Lucas Matheus da Silva, 9; Alexandre da Silva, 11; and Fernando Henrique Ribeiro Soares, 11, who was not been seen since December 27, 2020. Investigators discovered bones that resembled a rib as well as strands of hair
A surveillance image from December 27, 2020 shows Lucas Matheus da Silva, 9; Alexandre da Silva, 11; and Fernando Henrique Ribeiro Soares, 11, on their way to a park in Rio de Janeiro before they disappeared
Lucas Matheus da Silva, 9; Alexandre da Silva, 11; and Fernando Henrique Ribeiro Soares, 11, were last seen together the morning of December 27, 2020 when they were on their way to play soccer at a park near the condominium where they lived in the Rio de Janeiro city of Belford Roxo. The boys were expected back at their homes by 2pm for lunch, but never showed up.
Authorities were dispatched to the area surrounding the river after a man, whose name was not released, appeared before the 39th Military Police station in Belford Roxo on Wednesday and claimed that his brother, a drug dealer, had concealed the bodies of the three children.
The accused sibling, who also has not been named, met with the Baixada Fluminense Homicide Police and admitted dumping the bags under a bridge near the border between the cities of Belford Roxo and Duque de Caxias. He also told the police that he was unaware of their contents.
Authorities in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday interviewed a man who claimed to have knowledge of the three missing boys. He told authorities that his brother was carrying bags containing their bodies and that the bags were dumped near a river in Belford Roxo. Furthermore, the man alleged that the children were beaten to death under the orders of José Carlos dos Prazeres Silva , a local drug dealer. However, dos Prazeres Silva is wanted for ordering the January torture of an innocent man who had been named a suspect over the missing boys.
Authorities on Friday searched for clues related to the three missing boys near a river in Rio de Janeiro
Baixada Fluminense Homicide Police chief Uriel Alcântara requested a warrant arrest for the man, but the request was overturned by a court judge.
His brother also claimed that the boys were beaten to death under the orders of José Carlos dos Prazeres Silva.
However, Silva is wanted for ordering the January torture of an innocent man who was been named a suspect over the missing boys.
At least nine other suspects - including one who is under arrest - participated in the assault of the man, who was lured to a building near a police station.
The victim was tied up, punched, kicked, burned, bitten and left with a cardboard box over him that read, “Suspected in the disappearance of the 3 children caught by residents of Castelar.”
Another alleged motive, police said, behind the children’s disappearance is that the boys had stolen a bird from a drug trafficker in the Casterlar slum.