Maritime police believe the body found at the Poço da Cruz beach, in Mira council, is that of 35-year-old mother Vera Lúcia Oliveira, who was swept away by strong currents while trying to save her eight-year-old daughter on Monday (September 22) in Areão beach, Vagos.
The body was found by a local resident near the water at around 7.30pm yesterday (Wednesday), a source from the Navy told Lusa news agency.
“The body has not yet been identified, but everything seems to suggest that it is the body of the missing woman,” said the head of the Aveiro Captaincy Luciano Oliveira.
On the tragic day, Vera Lúcia Oliveira and her husband jumped into the sea to rescue their daughter who was struggling in the water.
The young girl was saved but the mother was caught by a wave and dragged out to sea.
On Monday her father, retired fisherman António Novo told reporters: “I spent 35 years of my life at sea to feed my family, and now the sea has taken my daughter away.”
Yesterday evening, speaking to CMTV news, the father said he knew the sea would ‘return’ his daughter when he saw jellyfish being washed ashore. “It was a sign that my daughter would soon appear,” he told journalists.
