A MAN was caught on CCTV putting his former wife’s body in the boot of a car before coldly dumping it in a piranha-infested river.
Amanda Caroline de Almeida, 31, was strangled to death last week by Carlos Eduardo de Souza Ribeiro, who admitted to the murder and disposing of her body in a river in São Paulo, Brazil.
Distressing footage, recorded in the early hours of last Tuesday, shows Ribeiro, 35, and his brother carrying the victim’s body in a sheet.
The killer and his brother were filmed struggling with the body, trying to place it into the car’s boot before driving away to dump it in the Tietê River.
Ribeiro admitted to strangling his wife on May 19 after she refused to reconcile following their separation two months earlier, police reported.
Friends informed local media that six weeks earlier, Ribeiro had violently assaulted Almeida for ending their relationship, but she refrained from reporting him to avoid causing more distress for their three children.
Ribeiro was arrested on May 21, while his 38-year-old brother, who has not been named, was detained a day later.
Police said: “Two men have been arrested in for femicide and concealment of a corpse.
“The search continues to locate the victim’s body.”
Almeida’s body has not yet been recovered.
The Tietê River, located in Brazil’s state of São Paulo, is notorious for its poor water quality and is known to be infested with piranhas.
Several months ago, 15 swimmers were forced to flee the river covered in blood when they were attacked by a school of piranha fish.
On the night she was murdered, Almeida was returning home from an evening out when she noticed her ex-husband’s car parked near her house.
She asked to be dropped off at a distance, hoping he would leave by the time she arrived.
Tragically, she was never seen again.
Her three children, aged 17, 7 and 5, are now in the care of family members.
Domestic violence against women has long been a widespread issue in Brazil.
National data since 2021 indicates a troubling rise in cases of violence targeting women.
In response, the Brazilian government took a significant step in 2024 by designating domestic violence as an exception to repatriation under the Hague Convention.
This move was widely recognised as a landmark decision aimed at safeguarding victims of domestic abuse, including women and children.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or chat at thehotline.org.
