The disappearance of children from Belford Roxo, a municipality in the Metropolitan Region of Rio, completes one year this Monday (27). The boys Lucas Matheus da Silva, age eight, Alexandre da Silva, age 10, and Fernando Henrique Ribeiro, age 12, were last seen in the Castelar community, on December 27, 2020. Since the episode, the whereabouts of the three is unknown.
According to the Civil Police of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the trio were kidnapped, tortured and killed by drug dealers in the area. The three minors were accused of taking a bird cage that belonged to the drug lord and the deaths were a kind of punishment for what happened.
On December 9, the Civil Police served 56 arrest warrants in the disappearance region. Of the total number of prisoners, five were suspected of being involved in the boys’ deaths. About 250 police officers from various specialized police stations were mobilized to the location known as Castelar, in the city of Belford Roxo, where the crime took place.
The police operation, carried out just over three weeks ago, ended the investigations into the causes of the deaths. So far, the bodies have never been found. The inquiry has yet to be released by authorities.
remember the case
Lucas, Alexandre and Fernando disappeared on a Sunday afternoon, around lunchtime, on December 27th of last year. According to the boys’ colleagues, initially the three had gotten together to play ball. However, they decided to go to a popular fair in the city, Feira da Areia Branca, in order to buy bird food.
About 40 surrounding security devices were analyzed by the Baixada Fluminense Homicide Police (DHBF), but no clues were found in the recordings at the time.
In March of this year, the Public Ministry of Rio de Janeiro (MPRJ) identified records of the trio on cameras positioned in a neighborhood neighboring the Castelar community. The suspicion is that they have been captured by the perpetrators of the crime in that area.
Also in early 2021, in January, a man was taken by relatives of the disappeared to the police station. The boy, who did not have his identity revealed, was appointed as responsible for the disappearance of the boys. Despite this, he was released by the police after giving testimony. Authorities claimed he had no connection with the story.
Reference: CNN Brasil
