It was her first attempt at extreme sports and it killed her.
The Daily Mail can reveal Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas had never before tried anything like the rope jump from a bridge in Brazil that ended her life in such horrific fashion.
And the thrill-seeking graduate was clearly nervous as well as excited before being hurled ‘airplane style’ from 130ft by bungling operators who failed to attach a rope to her harness.
In a foreboding Instagram post, she posted a photo of the abandoned Ponte do Esqueleto outside the city of Limeira, writing: ‘Who was the crazy person that let me come to jump off a bridge???’
The 21-year-old had worked as a physical training instructor at a gym near her home in the Sao Paulo suburb of Jandira for two years.
‘We are all still in a state of total shock,’ her boss Jefferson Roque de Freitas told the Daily Mail.
‘Maria loved all sports, particularly soccer. But no one heard of her ever doing anything like rope or bungee jumping before.’
‘Maria was adored. She would do anything for anybody to help them and had an incredible outlook on life,’ Roque de Freitas, manager of the Panobianco Academia fitness center, continued.
Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas, 21, had never before tried anything like the rope jump from a bridge in Brazil that ended her life in such horrific fashion last weekend, the Daily Mail can reveal
Just prior to the tragedy, the 21-year-old had posted a photo of the abandoned Ponte do Esqueleto outside the city of Limeira, writing: ‘Who was the crazy person that let me come to jump off a bridge???’ as well as her wristbands for the June 13 jump
‘She was dedicated, an example to everyone, and close friends not only with the staff but also the members here.’
Rodrigues de Freitas also posted on her Instagram story a photo of her holding two wristbands for the jump on June 13. Her account has now been taken down.
A blue one declares ‘departure authorized’ and adds ‘welcome aboard’. It also has the name of the company Entra Cordas, meaning ‘between the ropes’.
A yellow band says, ‘I will fly and record,’ clearly referencing the GoPro camera she rented from the group for the event. That device is now missing despite potentially holding crucial information for the investigation.
Rodrigues de Freitas was brought up by an aunt and her grandparents in Jandira, the Daily Mail has been told. They have so far refused to talk publicly.
However, her mother Valdenia Rodrigues paid tribute to her daughter in a heart-rending Instagram post that read: ‘My beloved daughter, today alone I wanted to hug you more than a thousand times.’
In another she wrote: ‘That damn rope took you away from me forever.’
The young woman was buried a day after the tragedy in a pauper’s grave, the Daily Mail has already revealed.
She lies in one of the city-owned burial plots in Jandira used on a rotational basis for families often unable to pay for a private site.
Slightly less than three seconds after the was thrown from the bridge, her smashed body lay on the ground while the rope meant to catch her remained coiled on the bridge
The 130 foot high bridge has been the wild west of bungee jumping for this southwestern corner of Brazil for years – plus a notorious suicide spot
She was buried on Sunday in the spot only recently vacated by the remains of someone else. Her heartbroken family have four years before they must then exhume her and find an alternative resting place.
Four large floral bouquets lie on the mound of freshly-dug and richly-hued red earth covering her, which is surrounded by a well-worn tiled frame.
Loosely translated, a message on one reads: ‘The memory of your smile will remain in our memory’. Another loosely translated says: ‘I miss my family’.
The plot lies in the well-tended five-acre hillside cemetery shaded by rows of pine trees and overlooking a crowded and ramshackle mixture of homes and bustling streets.
A worker there who saw the funeral said: ’There were a lot of people. What happened to that girl is so sad.
‘Her grave is one of those owned by the city that is used for different bodies. Each one has four years before the body must be removed and placed somewhere else to free it up for another burial.’
The Daily Mail has confirmed that is the practice at the cemetery and other municipals throughout Sao Paulo because space is so limited. Exhumed remains are typically transferred to a public ossuary – a chest or small vault.
Bodies buried in one of the many private plots at the officially named Cemiterio Municipal de Jandira remain untouched.
Rodrigues de Freitas was among a large group of thrill seekers on that Saturday putting their lives in the hands of some of the unregulated rope and bungee jump companies who set up shop on the bridge for years.
She paid $56 for the experience. But the group handling her pendulum-style rope jump made a fatal error.
Rodrigues de Freitas had asked to be launched ‘airplane style’ from the bridge, with a horrifying video showing the moment three instructors hoisted her above their shoulders
Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas, 21, plunged from the forbidding concrete structure in Sao Paulo state on Saturday without a rope
A horrifying video shows two men hoisting her above their shoulders as she spreads her arms and is tossed over the side of the bridge. A third man looks on in the viral footage.
Slightly less than three seconds later her smashed body lay on the ground while the rope meant to catch her remained coiled on the bridge. Miraculously, she was still breathing for a short while before dying at the scene.
Luis Felipe Feliciano Egoroff, 32, Maicon Fernandes Cintra, 42 and 27-year-old Vitor de Freitas Goncalves have been charged with homicide with eventual intent. It means they did not intend to kill, but are accused of a dangerous act that carried a fatal risk.
Now the bridge is to be blown up to prevent further tragedies, as exclusively revealed by the Daily Mail.
Preliminary work started early Wednesday with heavy earth moving equipment blocking off entrances after officials from Sao Paulo state signed paperwork for its destruction.
The decision was taken after Rodrigues de Freitas’s devastated uncle Luis demanded action in a text to a local politician who has campaigned for years against rogue bungee companies using the bridge.
The relative was forced to identify his niece’s body. He wrote to councilor Bruna Magalhaes: ‘We’re recovering our strength as best we can.’ He added he was spreading ‘the word about the bridge… so that it gets demolished as soon as possible’.
Magalhaes told the Daily Mail in front of a crew securing the site: ‘This will be done in three phases. The first is today as the earth movers block it off and stopping anyone gaining access.
‘Next, walls will be built to secure the barrier. Then the bridge will be blown up. I don’t know exactly when because that will take a lot of planning due to its size. But hopefully this year.’
The young woman was buried a day after the tragedy in a pauper’s grave, the Daily Mail has already revealed
The bridge has been the wild west of bungee jumping for this southwestern corner of Brazil for years – plus a notorious suicide spot.
Startling interrogation footage reveals Feliciano Egoroff, who carried Rodrigues de Freitas at the front, telling cops he and Fernandes Cintra were responsible for attaching the rope.
‘It’s him or me who does that,’ he said in the clip, reported by EPTV.
But then Feliciano Egoroff repeatedly insisted he could not recall other details of what happened in the lead up to the tragedy.
‘I went to the front first,’ he said. ‘After that it erased from my mind. I can’t remember.
Fernandes Cintra said he had been the instructor at the young woman’s feet. ‘In the procedure, sometimes I’m the one who places the rope, sometimes it’s Felipe,’ he said.
It was difficult to understand how the mistake leading to the tragedy happened, he added.
‘It’s us three on the job. I can’t understand at what moment I didn’t see the rope,’ he said. ‘I simply cannot understand.’
