Two young people found dead in a car may have accidentally been poisoned by carbon monoxide.
Júlia Santos de Oliveira and João Pedro Ramos das Neves were found lifeless in the vehicle on Monday (1 Jul) night.
Luiz Santos said his daughter Júlia had left home at around 9:30am to catch the bus to school.
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Her last contact with her family came at around 10:20am when she told her uncle she was on her way to class.
They grew worried when the 17-year-old failed to tell them she had arrived.
Luiz told local media: “From that moment, we started searching.
“We went to her school, to all the places she could be but found nothing.
“I went to the police station and then we tried to track her phone.
“Eventually, we heard rumours that there was a car nearby with two young people dead inside.”
The car was running when it was found parked on a street in Itaguaí, Brazil.
It belonged to 20-year-old João, who was known to Júlia, as reported on Need To Know.
Luiz said: “They didn’t find any signs of aggression or even sexual activity.
“It seems that both of them died from asphyxiation in the car, with the air conditioning on and the windows closed.”
The investigation is ongoing but it is suspected that the victims died from carbon monoxide poisoning from the car’s exhaust.
Júlia’s funeral was held in Itaguaí on Wednesday (3 Jul).
Experts warn that carbon monoxide is colourless, tasteless, odourless, and non-irritating – making it extremely difficult to detect.
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