A worried mother went to her daughter’s ex-boyfriend’s house and discovered him in the middle of allegedly dismembering her.
Thaissa Lorrany Muniz Melo failed to return home from nursing class and stopped replying to messages.
Her mother went to the police, who advised her to post about Thaissa’s disappearance on social media on Monday (17 Nov) night.
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She was immediately contacted by one of her daughter’s ex-boyfriend’s former partners, who warned that Henryque Cassiano da Silva was allegedly extremely violent.
On Tuesday (18 Nov) morning, she went to his house and saw through a gap in the door that he was inside wearing only underwear.
Da Silva, 22, refused to let her in.
She told local media: “His mother opened the door and we started searching.
“I was checking the rooms, afraid of what I might find. He kept telling his mother, ‘I didn’t do anything.’
“But when I looked at his feet, they were covered in blood.”
Inside his bedroom, behind a wardrobe, they found Thaissa’s body, as reported by Need To Know.
One of her arms had been completely removed, while the other was partially severed, it is said.
Police later discovered a cardboard box they believe Da Silva intended to use to transport and hide the body parts, as well as three blood-stained knives hidden under a washing machine.
Investigators say Thaissa, 21, was strangled and sustained multiple defensive wounds on her arms as she fought for her life.
“He was in the middle of dismembering her when he was interrupted by her mother’s arrival,” forensic expert Daniel Pires said.
Da Silva was arrested at the scene in Recife, Brazil, and remanded in custody on suspicion of femicide.
Thaissa worked as a confectioner and was studying to become a nursing assistant. She leaves behind a young daughter.
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