Youngsters playing air softball made a horrific discovery in a disused factory near Braga at the weekend. A foul smell led them to the body of a young woman, naked and stuffed into an industrial oven.
The body was completely unrecognisable and in an advanced stage of decomposition.
All efforts now are concentrated on trying to discover the identity of the woman.
Police are working on the theory that it could be 20-year-old Mayara Maldonado, a Brazilian who went missing in October and whose last known contact was a panicked telephone call to her boyfriend, inexplicably cut short.
Nothing has been heard of Mayara since. An autopsy carried out on Monday has since proved inconclusive and hopes now centre on “other exams” including DNA testing, which will take some time.
Mayara’s mother and stepfather, who flew to Portugal from Brazil as soon as they heard that the youngster was missing, are now helping police as much as they can with the investigation.
The missing girl’s stepfather Elias told CMTV on Wednesday that the family are still hopeful that the body found on Saturday is not that of their loved one.
Photo: Missing Mayara Maldonado
