A 27-year-old missing nurse has been found dead with signs of torture and her limbs bound in a creepy abandoned house.
Nurse technician Rita de Kássia Nogueira went missing from her home in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on November 13 and her body was found in an empty house in the nearby area of Bento Ribeiro two days later.
The victim’s family said she was so badly beaten that her funeral had to take place in a closed casket.
Loved ones said the victim’s body also had signs of strangulation.
The family believe the abandoned house is owned by her 26-year-old boyfriend Iago Lacê Falcão’s mum and her boyfriend is being treated as a suspect.
According to her friend Hugo Guimarães, the victim was found with signs of torture, little hair and a badly bruised face.
The victim's aunt Aldenice Nogueira said: “The house had been abandoned for over 10 years, she was strangled inside. The burial will have to be in a closed casket. We want justice.”
CCTV footage reportedly shows the suspect parking outside the victim’s house on the evening of November 13.
Ms Nogueira goes to the car and talks to him for 30 seconds before turning to leave. The suspect goes back over an hour later, they get in his car and leave.
Ms Nogueira said: “My niece got into his car and never came back.”
The couple had been dating for about a month before her death and she was previously in a 10-year relationship with her ex-fiancé Igor Ferreira, who helped with the search to find her.
The family believes Iago committed the crime out of jealousy.
The victim’s aunt said: “We don't know anything about this guy, I didn't even know she was in a relationship with someone else... I think it was about a month. Even my sister didn't know many details."
According to reports, Iago presented himself at the police station and showed officers where the victim’s body was in his family’s disused house.
The police said he was released from police custody because he wasn’t caught in the act and no evidence currently indicates he was the killer following a search of his car and the property.
The suspect informally admitted his guilt and showed them where the body was but has declined to formally confess and leave a statement, according to the police.
Authorities are currently waiting for the autopsy results before deciding on the next course of action.
From January to September this year, 82 femicide cases have been registered in Rio de Janeiro state, which is 60 percent higher than in the same period last year.
