Brazil police hunt missing GoPro as three held over fatal rope jump claim memory lapse
A 21-year-old woman died after instructors failed to attach her safety rope during a rope jump in Brazil. Police are now searching for the victim’s missing GoPro that may have captured the fatal plunge.
The fatal jump
On Saturday, 13 June 2026, Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas, 21, arrived at the disused Ponte do Esqueleto bridge near Cordeirópolis, São Paulo, to take part in a rope jump activity. Video footage shows two instructors lifting her in a horizontal position and pushing her off the 40-metre bridge. Her safety rope was not attached and remained coiled on the platform. She fell into the void and died from her injuries.
Missing camera
Maria was carrying a 360-degree GoPro camera on a selfie stick, rented from the extreme sports company to record her jump. Witness Rafael Goulart told authorities that he saw staff members remove the camera from her body before emergency services arrived.
Police suspect the camera was stolen, and it has not been found. Investigators believe the footage could show what happened in the seconds before the fall.It’s the first scene I remember after seeing the girl lying on the ground: some staff were removing the GoPro camera from the strap of her body that was already on the ground.
Rescue attempt
Nurse Rayza Dias was among the first to reach the victim. She found Maria still alive but gravely injured.
Dias spoke to the young woman,I saw that she was breathing heavily, and I looked at her pupils, which were unfortunately both dilated. I saw a pulse, it was very weak, but she still had a pulse.
Despite her efforts, Maria succumbed to her injuries.Duda, nobody dies on my shift.
Instructors’ accounts
Three instructors were arrested and charged with homicide with possible intent. During questioning, they claimed they could not remember who was responsible for securing the rope. Luis Felipe Feliciano Egoroff told police that the team had no fixed chain of checks.
A second detainee, Maicon Fernandes Cintra, also said he could not recall whether he checked Maria’s gear. Authorities revealed the company operated without a licence.Sometimes we don’t put it, one checks, another checks, another puts it. Sometimes one does, the other comes, sees if it’s right. It was more or less that.
Aftermath
Witnesses told police that several staff members changed clothes and fled the scene after the fall. They were captured by military police later the same day. The instructors remain in pre-trial detention as the investigation continues into what the prosecution calls a case of lethal risk knowingly accepted.
- Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas falls 40 metres from the Ponte do Esqueleto without a safety rope.
- Bystanders film the fall; a rope is seen left coiled on the platform.
- Witnesses report staff removed a GoPro from her body and changed clothes.
- Nurse Rayza Dias attempts to revive the victim, but she dies at the scene.
- Three men are arrested and charged with homicide with possible intent.
- Police reveal suspects cannot recall who was responsible for the rope; search for GoPro continues.
