A beauty queen was allegedly killed by a besotted family friend who also joined the search party after dumping her body.
Raissa Suellen Ferreira da Silva had known the suspect since she was 10-years-old.
He even helped her move to a new city to launch her career as a model and influencer three years ago.
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Raissa was also studying for a degree in aesthetics at university.
The 23-year-old was allegedly choked to death by comedian Marcelo Alves at his home in Curitiba located south-west of São Paulo, Brazil.
He is accused of luring her to his home under the ruse that he had a job offer for her, according to reports.
But he instead declared his love for the Miss Serra Branca Teen 2020 beauty queen.
She reportedly reacted angrily and insulted him for inviting her to his home under false pretences.
Marcelo then allegedly throttled the victim with a wire before dumping her body in the woods on 2 June.
Her family reported her as missing later the same day, as reported by Need To Know.
Marcelo’s son convinced him to turn himself in at the police station and he reportedly confessed to the crime on Monday morning (9 June).
He took a police team to the wooded area in the municipality of Araucária and Raissa’s body was found wrapped in a tarpaulin.
Police spokesperson Aline Manzatto stated: “He said he was angry and out of control, that he took the plastic wire and strangled the victim, leaving her in one room in the house and going to another.
“Ten minutes later, he returned and Raissa was already dead.”
According to her cousin Herbert Guilherme, the suspect remained in close contact with her family during the seven-day search for her.
He said: “When I found out about her disappearance, I called him.
“He lied the whole time, he kept saying he was going to help me find her.”
Marcelo’s defence lawyer Caio Percival said his client killed Raissa out of “violent emotion”.
He also said that the suspect regrets the victim’s death and is cooperating with the Justice Department.
He added: “Marcelo is a first-time offender, has a clean record, has never set foot in a police station and unfortunately was led by passion into this situation that is clearly out of the ordinary.”
The suspect has been charged with qualified homicide and concealment of a corpse.
The investigation continues.
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