The body of a well-known Brazilian soap opera star has been found four months after he went missing, according to reports.
As per The Independent, actor Jefferson Machado, famous for his role in the TV series Reis, was last seen on January 27. His death was confirmed last week by his family’s lawyer on Facebook.
“It is with regret that I share the sad news of the passing of actor Jeff Machado, whose body was found with signs of strangulation,” lawyer Jairo Magalhaes Advogados revealed.
According to The Independent, Machado’s body was found stuffed inside a wooden chest buried six feet beneath the backyard of a house in the area of Campo Grande, Rio de Janeiro.
“His arms were tied behind his head and buried in a trunk that is very similar to the ones in his own house,” Advogados added.
The house where Machado’s body was found reportedly belonged to a woman who had rented it to a friend of Machado. Reports state that the tenant has been identified as a possible suspect, but no arrests have been made at the time of writing.
Machado was last seen on January 27, while his mother, Maria das Dores, said she spoke to her son two days later on January 29.
The actor’s family is said to have grown suspicious after receiving multiple text messages from the actor’s phone; texts they believe were an attempt to impersonate him.
Machado’s iCloud password was then changed and his location deactivated, while authorities officially declared the soap star missing on February 9 after his dogs were found abandoned at his Rio de Janeiro home.
“Jefferson was coldly and brutally murdered by envious, evil and, of course, unscrupulous people,” family friend Cintia Hilsendeger wrote on the actor’s Instagram account, according to the New York Post.
Rest in peace, Jefferson Machado.
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