Brazil Police Confirm Arrests After Woman Dies in Bungee Jump Fall

 


Police in Brazil have charged three men with homicide following the death of a 21-year-old woman who plunged 130 feet during a bungee-jumping excursion on Saturday, authorities said.

The São Paulo Public Security Secretariat confirmed in a statement to Newsweek that six people were taken in for questioning in Limeira after the woman died at the scene.

Three men, aged 27, 32, and 42, “were arrested for homicide with eventual intent after the death of a 21-year-old woman during an activity on the Skeleton Bridge Trail, in Limeira on Saturday,” according to a translation of the statement.

Authorities did not name the deceased, but Brazilian newspaper O Globo identified her as Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas.

This split image shows a screengrab of a woman jumping from Skeleton Bridge, in Limeira in southeastern Sao Paulo who fell to her death on June 13. Police in Sao Paulo have charged three men in connection with the death. (Photo credit: Screengrab via X and photo from Getty Images).

This split image shows a screengrab of a woman jumping from Skeleton Bridge, in Limeira in southeastern Sao Paulo who fell to her death on June 13. P…

Eyewitnesses Describe Fatal Plunge

The fatal incident occurred at the Ponte do Esqueleto, commonly known as the Skeleton Bridge, in southeastern São Paulo. Video footage widely circulated on social media, which has since accumulated millions of views, shows three people on a platform hoisting a woman into the air.

Bystanders reported that the main safety rope had not been secured to the woman’s harness and tried to warn the men. As she was released from the platform, shouts of “Guys, the rope,” could be heard from the crowd.

O Globo reported one witness as saying that employees of the firm arranging the jump had forgotten to attach the rope, and that equipment could still be seen on the floor of the platform.

Ahead of the jump, Freitas had shared photos from the site on social media, including one post that read, “Who was the crazy person who let me jump off a bridge?”

According to Brazilian media, Freitas lived in the Greater São Paulo area. She had recently completed studies in physical education and sports management, and was working at a gym at the time of her death.

Emergency Response and Arrests

Teams from the Fire Department and the Mobile Emergency Care Service (Samu) responded to the scene, where the woman’s death was confirmed.

Local reports indicated that two men initially fled the scene into a nearby forest but were later located by a police helicopter.

O Globo reported that among those taken in for questioning were men wearing T-shirts from the companies Entre Cordas and Ih Voei. The newspaper identified the three men charged as Luis Felipe Feliciano Egoroff, Vitor de Freitas Gonçalves, and Maicon Fernandes Cintra.

Under Brazilian law, homicide with eventual intent occurs when the person charged does not directly intend to kill someone, but knowingly assumes the risk that death may happen as a result of their conduct.

Lack of Authorization

The newspaper also reported that the group lacked any type of authorization to perform jumps from the Skeleton Bridge, despite roughly 100 participants being gathered at the scene at the time of the fatal incident.

Rafael Gomes dos Santos, a defense lawyer representing those charged, told O Globo that bungee jumping is unregulated but not prohibited, noting that similar events had been held at the site before.

Dos Santos characterized the incident as a “sad fatality” but added that those involved have been practicing for years with no history of accidents.

This illustrative image from August 28, 2025, shows a police vehicle in Sao Paulo. (Photo by MIGUEL SCHINCARIOL/AFP via Getty Images.

This illustrative image from August 28, 2025, shows a police vehicle in Sao Paulo. (Photo by MIGUEL SCHINCARIOL/AFP via Getty Images.