A witness says they saw a worker take camera from woman who fell without rope

A witness has claimed they saw an employee remove the action camera that 21-year-old Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas had attached to her body after she fell from around 40 meters in Limeira, São Paulo.

The young woman died after a rope jump incident in which she was reportedly launched from a platform without being secured to a safety rope.

What happened

Pedagogical coordinator Rafael Goulard said he saw one of the workers approach Maria Eduarda after she had already fallen to the ground.

“The first scene I remember was seeing one of the employees removing the strap from the neck and body of the person already on the ground — the GoPro camera,” he said in an interview with Jornal da EPTV, an affiliate of TV Globo. He was waiting in line to jump when he witnessed the incident.

The recording device used by the victim has not been recovered by police. According to the police report obtained by UOL, Maria Eduarda was wearing an action camera to record the entire jump. When questioned, workers told police they did not know where the device was. Searches in the surrounding area were unsuccessful.

Goulard suggested the incident may have involved negligence and a rush to “do everything faster.” He also said workers did not speak to customers after the accident and showed no visible reaction.

“They were in a catatonic state. I don’t know if they didn’t understand what they had done or if they were trying to hide or escape,” he added.

Another witness said he later saw workers moving equipment to a car and changing clothes after the incident. Goulard also claimed he informed a police officer about the clothing changes, and the officer ordered the workers not to leave the scene.

Recalling the case

Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas, 21, fell from approximately 40 meters. Firefighters were called and confirmed her death at the scene at the Skeleton Bridge trail, according to São Paulo’s Public Security Secretariat. The case was registered as homicide at the 3rd Police District in Limeira.

When military police arrived, a nurse was attempting to resuscitate her. Two men identifying themselves as employees of the company responsible for the jump were near the victim, according to the police report. They initially handed over their documents but later fled into a wooded area when an officer briefly moved away to assist with the rescue.

The report also states that a witness showed police a video of the fall. In the footage, three individuals believed to be from the company can be seen lifting the victim and throwing her from the bridge. The video shows no safety equipment attached, and she falls freely.

Witnesses pointed to a safety failure, saying employees forgot to attach the rope before the jump.

Footage shows the aftermath of the fall, with bystanders reacting in shock and screaming when they realized the rope had not been attached.

Three men were arrested for homicide with eventual intent — meaning they did not intend to kill, but accepted the risk of death. They were identified as Luis Felipe Feliciano Egoroff, Vitor De Freitas Gonçalves, and Maicon Fernandes Cintra.

The defense claims the suspects were in shock. Lawyer Rafael Gomes dos Santos told Fantástico that they could not explain why the rope had not been attached, saying it was the first time such an incident had ever happened.

Six people were taken to the police station for questioning, but three were later released. A court in São Paulo has since converted the arrests of the three main suspects into preventive detention.

Two of those arrested were found on the bridge when police arrived. They had changed clothes but could not explain why, according to the police report.

Police say the suspects were unable to clarify whether the incident was caused by a mistake or lapse that led to the rope not being attached. “They are still disoriented because they have been doing this for a long time and nothing like this had ever happened before,” said investigator Andréa Dantas in an interview.

Companies linked to the jump appear in the recordings, with employees wearing shirts labeled Entre Cordas and Ih Voei. UOL attempted to contact both companies but received no response at the time of publication.