Police searching for a Brazilian academic who vanished during a trip to the Essex coast have found a laptop they believe to be hers.
Essex Police said the device was found in Brightlingsea on Saturday and Vitoria Figueiredo Barreto’s family has been updated and continue to be supported.
Ms Barreto, 30, has not been in contact with loved ones since March 3 after she met a friend at Essex University in Colchester and was reported missing the following day.
The psychologist made a 30-minute bus journey from Wivenhoe to the coastal town of Brightlingsea on the afternoon of March 3 – an area her friend says she had never been to.
Once off the bus, she was seen on doorbell footage shortly after 2.30pm in the Hurst Green area.
Her tote bag – which had the words ‘people over profit’ adorned on it – was found nearly a week later close to Copperas Road, in Brightlingsea.
The force said a person, believed to be Ms Barreto, is seen on CCTV apparently jumping over a fence near to where the bag was found into a boatyard just after midnight on March 4.
Police said on Thursday they were ‘exploring the possibility of Vitoria having taken a boat from a pontoon in Brightlingsea’.
The boat was found on a drift in the water close to Bradwell-on-Sea, police said, adding on Sunday they were ‘aware of a number of reported potential sightings of Vitoria in the Bradwell area’.
Vitoria Figueiredo Barreto, 30, has been missing since March 3 after she was last seen in the Brightlingsea area
The force said a person, believed to be Ms Barreto, is seen on CCTV apparently jumping over a fence near to where the bag was found into a boatyard just after midnight on March 4
The psychologist (seen on CCTV) made a 30-minute bus journey from Wivenhoe to the coastal town of Brightlingsea on the afternoon of March 3
‘We have had a policing presence in Bradwell and in the Dengie area throughout the weekend and these reports are being progressed appropriately alongside other lines of inquiry, which we must also continue to work through,’ a force spokesperson said.
They said that an orange horse-shoe shaped buoyancy aid from the vessel appears to be missing.
Police said a force marine unit took Ms Barreto’s loved ones on Sunday on ‘the same boat journey we believe she may have taken in the early hours of Wednesday March 4’.
Ms Barreto’s loved ones are urging the Brazilian community in Essex to display Brazilian flags, which they hope will attract her attention and create a ‘safe and welcoming space for her’.
Detective Superintendent Anna Granger said: ‘Sunday March 15 is of course Mother’s Day in the UK.
‘I am a mum myself and I cannot even begin to imagine the pain Vitoria’s mother, Gleyz, has experienced since Vitoria’s disappearance.
‘Every single officer, staff member and volunteer involved in this search would love nothing more than to reunite Vitoria with her mum – and we’re working around the clock to do that.
‘We have seen first-hand the support from the community in Brightlingsea and further afield, which has been offered to Vitoria’s loved ones.
‘Equally, we know many people from the community have been involved in raising the profile of Vitoria’s disappearance and that has helped to ensure a significant number of people across Essex now recognise her face and her clothes and I would urge our whole community to please keep looking out for her and report any sightings or CCTV information to us as soon as possible.’
People can report sightings, CCTV information or any details which could be important to police by calling 999.
Speaking during a press conference with Essex Police on Tuesday, her friend Liliane Silva (pictured with Vitoria’s mother Gleyz) said her friend was ’emotionally resting and quiet’ on the day she went missing and wouldn’t talk to her about what was wrong
The last people to see Vitoria were Justin Francis and his partner who were walking their dog along Bellfield Avenue when a woman matching her description approached them and introduced herself as Vitoria.
Mr Francis said she asked if she could come into their home, but did not explain why.
He said they now feel ‘a little bit guilty’ for being the last people to see her and speak to her.
‘If we had known at the time she was missing, we would have brought her back to our house and got her a cup of tea,’ he told the BBC.
Speaking during a press conference with Essex Police on Tuesday, her friend Liliane Silva said her friend was ’emotionally resting and quiet’ on the day she went missing and wouldn’t talk to her about what was wrong.
She added: ‘It’s just not her, she is always talkative. She was not that contemplative person.’
Ms Figueiredo Barreto had been wearing a dark coat, a blue turtleneck jumper, light blue jeans and dark trainers with white soles on the day she went missing.
Her friend and fellow psychologist Fernanda Silvestre told a Brazilian paper that Vitoria’s phone, which is paired with hers, had activated emergency mode and sent a signal location pointing to the sea.
