Police are investigating the discovery of an elderly woman found dead last night in the freezer of her home in Salreu, Estarreja (Aveiro).
The 81-year-old had been missing for two days, reports tabloid Correio da Manhã.
PJ police are working on the theory that Maria de Lurdes Marques was killed during a break-in.
Reports have explained that her body was found after her brother entered the house to try and discover where she was.
Manuel Marques found “the whole place upside down” from what appeared to have been a break-in, but could not find any trace of his sister.
It was only after police had been alerted, and Maria de Lurdes’ cleaning lady Maria Irene Moutela had turned up to help, that “an agent asked if anyone had looked in the freezer”.
Maria Irene Moutela realized then that the freezer was “locked, something which never happened” before, says CM.
She unlocked it, lifted the lid, and got the shock of her life. Maria de Lurdes was “frozen” inside.
CM suggests she may well have been shut in the freezer alive, as there appeared to be “no outward signs of violence”.
An autopsy will now determine how Maria de Lurdes died, while Aveiro PJ have launched a murder investigation.
According to CM, the horror could have been “a mere act of vengeance” – over what exactly has not been explained.
