A soap-opera actor was found buried, the apparent victim of a murder.
Jefferson Machado, a prominent soap-opera actor who has been missing for close to five months, was found dead on May 23. His body was found inside a trunk, buried near a home in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Cintia Hilsendeger, a close friend of the family, confirmed the actor’s death on his Instagram page.
The local authorities stated that the 44-year-old actor’s body was found tied up and hidden in a wooden chest, which was encased in concrete and buried six feet underground in the backyard of a home in the Campo Grande neighborhood.
The family’s lawyer, Jairo Magalhães, released a statement, “His arms were tied behind his head and he was buried in a trunk, quite similar to the ones at his own residence.”
The identification of the body was confirmed through fingerprint analysis and a “line” was found on the neck, indicating strangulation.
The investigation is still underway, with law enforcement’s attention focused on a man who had been renting the property. The unidentified suspect, who reportedly knew Machado, was last seen entering the house a month before.
Expressing her grief and anger, family friend Hilsendeger posted on the actor’s Instagram, “Jefferson was mercilessly and callously murdered by wicked, grudge-bearing, and undeniably unscrupulous individuals.”
Machado disappeared from his home in Rio in January, with his last known sighting being in Campo Grande.
When Machado’s eight dogs were found abandoned at his house, the family became aware of his disappearance.
In the following months, the family received texts from someone pretending to be Machado. His mother, Maria das Dores, was suspicious of the messages because of frequent spelling errors and a style that did not match her son’s.
Alarm bells started ringing when Machado’s phone calls ceased, the impersonator claiming that he had dropped his phone in the toilet, Machado’s cloud password was changed, and his location-tracking feature was deactivated.
Machado, a native of Araranguá, began his acting career in 1997 and was well-known for his role in the 2021 film “Placebo Effect (Efeito Placibo),” which he also co-wrote. His final acting role before his untimely death was in the 2022 telenovela “Reis.”
