Who was Gabriela Lima Santana? Woman, 21, chopped up and stuffed into suitcase by gang who filmed gory murder
A notorious Brazilian gang allegedly filmed the murder and dismemberment of a young woman. The gang members allegedly filmed themselves murdering a 21-year-old woman, cutting up the body and packing the body parts into a suitcase, which was later discovered in a drainage ditch after her arm floated to the surface.
Gabriela Lima Santana was reported missing on March 13, 2021, but was presumed to have vanished much earlier. Municipal employees in Capao da Canoa found her remains when removing garbage from on ditch with an excavator.
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It was reported that one of Santana's arms fell out of the suitcase when a worker used the heavy machine to lift luggage. Her limb sank to the bottom of the pool and floated to the surface. Forensics experts recovered her head, torso, legs and another arm from the suitcase. Investigators found saws and knives along with the body parts and these are suspected to have been used to amputate the young woman. Additionally, the suitcase had rocks that were used to make it sink.
Santana's fingerprints and the distinctive tattoos on her body, one of which was reportedly affiliated with a local gang, were used to identify her. After the grisly finding, the investigators probed a creepy video they had received two weeks ago on March 1, in which a woman was filmed being hacked inside a bathroom by a smiling killer. Police believe that the woman in this video is Santana. It is not clear how the police received the horrendous video, but they have arrested two suspects — a 49-year-old man who was seen in the footage and a 23-year-old man who allegedly filmed the video. Police is still on the hunt for at least two other suspects in the case.
The reason behind the heinous murder is still not revealed.
According to a government database, Brazil has high rates of violent crimes such as murders and robberies. The homicide rate is 30 to 35 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, according to the UNODC, placing Brazil in the top 20 countries by intentional homicide rate.