A body believed to belong to a mum-of-two missing lawyer has been found buried a metre deep in her ex-lover’s garage.
Anic de Almeida Peixoto Herdy vanished back in February.
The remains were in an advanced state of decomposition when they were found by the police yesterday (25 September).
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The body was covered in bubble wrap and there was a tourniquet around the neck.
Officers had to use a pneumatic drill to reach the body about one metre (3’3”) under the garage.
The hours-long operation to recover the remains happened on the same day Lourival Correa Netto Fadiga confessed to the crime.
He confessed to killing Anic and burying her body at his home in Teresópolis, north-east of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The remains will be DNA-tested to confirm they do, indeed, are her.
She was last seen at a shopping centre in nearby Petrópolis.
Lourival, through his lawyer, admitted to killing the 54-year-old with a punch to the windpipe in a motel.
He confessed to driving her body back to his house, throwing it into a hole, and pouring concrete over it.
He claims to have killed Anic at the request of her husband, Benjamin Cordeiro Herdy, whose lawyer denies the accusation.
Police chief Cristiana Onorato Miguel says no evidence has been found to suggest Benjamin played a part in the crime.
She said: “Unlike Lourival’s phone, which he completely erased, Benjamin’s phone was thoroughly examined and searched from top to bottom.
“No evidence in that regard was found.”
Lourival is a computer technician but had told the Herdys he was a police officer when he first met them in 2021.
Anic and her husband, who is heir to a vast estate, ended up hiring him as their security guard.
Lourival’s children, Henrique and Maria Luiza Vieira Fadiga, and his girlfriend, Rebeca de Azevedo dos Santos, are also suspects.
All are charged with kidnapping for ransom, but murder charges may now be pressed.
Rebeca, through her lawyer, denies any knowledge of the crime, as reported by Need To Know.
Benjamin’s lawyer said: “Lourival uses the spotlight created by the case’s media attention to promote himself.
“And to continue his mission of destroying what he has never been able to achieve in his life and has always envied in Benjamin, Anic, Nickolas, and Lara.
“The unity and love of a family.”
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