Chilling footage has been released of a missing psychologist boarding a bus hours before she was last seen – with her tote bag found near a boat yard a week later.

Vitoria Figueiredo Barreto, 30, had been visiting a friend and staying at her home in Southend, Essex, when she went missing on March 3.

Local police believe the Brazilian academic boarded the 87 bus on Boundary Road just after 1pm, as seen in the recently shared CCTV.

Ms Figueiredo Barreto had been helping her friend Liliane Silva, a PhD student and lecturer in clinical psychology at the University of Essex, with a written project at the Colchester campus before the pair parted ways.

She stayed on the bus for 30 minutes before getting off at Bellfield Avenue in Brightlingsea – 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.

A member of the public had notified the police that it had been found yesterday on a ‘greenspace’ near a boat yard. 

Further CCTV appears to show a person jumping over the fence near to where the bag was found. 

Police confirmed that Vitoria’s family had been made aware of the discovery and were offering them continued support with specialised officers. 

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.

Vitoria Figueiredo Barreto, 30, has been missing since March 3 after she was last seen in the Brightlingsea area

Two CCTV stills show Vitoria got on the number 87 bus on Boundary Road in Wivenhoe, Colchester, just after 1pm and got off 30 minutes later at Bellfield Avenue, Brightlingsea

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 today, Ms 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. 

Ms Silva said Vitoria told her she was going back to the library to continue working on their project and did not tell her she was going to leave the university campus.

Sharing the theory she and Vitoria’s family currently believe, Ms Silva said it is possible that her friend was trying to get the bus to Colchester town centre, London or Southend.

The Brazilian had been visiting her friend Liliane Silva and staying at her home in Southend, Essex

She said in their opinion she may have misinterpreted the route and boarded the bus on the opposite side of the road because she had forgotten cars drive on the right-hand side in the UK and so was looking at it from a Brazilian perspective.

Standing with her husband who she lives with in Southend, Vitoria’s mother Gleyz Bezerra Fiqueiredo Barreto and her boyfriend Janilson Gomes Da Silveira Filho, Ms Silva pleaded for her friend to come home.

She said: ‘We are really concerned, really worried. Vitoria was always that person that was addicted to a screen, always updating us, discussing what was happening around the world, getting involved, just always happy by connecting people and she was always about community. 

‘So we know she is around us in this fantastic community and we want you to help us to find her. If you saw anything, anything that could mean she is close just let us know. Lets find Vitoria, lets celebrate Vitoria, lets bring back that happiness.’

Ms Silva said it is hard to eat, sleep and think whilst Vitoria is missing, with her mother adding that her missing daughter ‘cannot be well at all’.

Speaking about her friends mental state, she added: ‘We know that she is probably not in a good place, she is probably out of her mind, upset, struggling. We don’t know why and we don’t want to judge it now, we just want her with us. 

‘She needs to feel protected, she needs to feel loved. It was never her behaviour, that’s why we are so scared since the first second.’

During Ms Silva’s final encounter with Vitoria, she said she tried to ask her what was wrong and why she appeared ‘upset, airy and confused’.

She said: ‘She invited me to look at the ducks, she didn’t want to talk and she said that we would talk later.

‘I said “Sometimes it’s too late V, lets talk”, but she said “Observe the ducks” – which was not her, she was not that contemplative person.’

Essex Police said their efforts today are concentrating on specific areas of Brightlingsea where their teams are carrying out detailed searches. 

The force has deployed search officers on foot, air support and specialist dogs along with help from volunteers at Essex Search and Rescue.

Detective Superintendent Anna Granger urged anyone who saw Vitoria or anyone who has ‘even the smallest amount of information’ to come forward.

She also asked for everyone in the area to check their CCTV cameras for sightings of her.