A 22-year-old influencer who went missing for three days on a jet ski excursion was found dead in Brazil on Wednesday.
Jaqueline Barbosa Nascimento disappeared last Sunday during an outing with friends she had met at a party just weeks earlier.
The woman could not swim and local firefighters recovered her body in the Igaratá dam near São Paulo, Brazil. The mother identified her body at the scene.
The 22-year-old’s death, initially appearing as an accident, was registered as ‘suspicious’ according to police.
Nascimento was accompanied by two other friends on the jet ski. They gave police statements, but their accounts contradict each other.
Security camera footage from a nearby property is being reviewed.
Her best friend, Gabrielle Reis, told local media outlet Metrópoles that Nascimento spent the last week convincing her to join her on the outing.
Brazilian influencer Jaqueline Barbosa Nascimento, 22, went missing for three days on a jet-ski outing was found after three days of searching
Although Nascimento’s death initially appeared accidental, police have registered it as ‘suspicious’
Reis said: ‘All our close friends pleaded with her not to go, since none of us could go along.
‘But she spent the whole week nagging us, saying, “come on, come on.” In the end, she went anyway.’
Although the pair are close, Reis disagreed with the influencer’s lifestyle. She told a local reporter that Nascimento was a ‘naïve’ person.
She said: ‘We fought because of the way she was living her life, living it so intensely.
‘I didn’t want to go because I have other goals with God.’
Despite her friend’s persistence, the 22–year-old traveled with the new friends she met for the excursion.
A post-mortem has yet to confirm if the cause of death was drowning.
Nascimento was from São Paulo. She previously worked in a jewelry and perfume shop, and as a production assistant.
The influencer could not swim and local firefighters recovered her body in the Igaratá dam near São Paulo, Brazil
The Igaratá dam is located in the Jaguari River reservoir in São Paulo, Brazil and is a popular spot fishing and aquatic sports
She has more than 12,000 followers on social media, and is survived by her parents and younger sister.
The influencer expressed her approach to life on social media. Her profile read: ‘You need freedom to live fully.’
The 22-year-old also shared photos of her partying on a speedboat and jet-ski.
Reis added: ‘She was always such a gentle, loving girl, always thinking of others. She was a good person and a true friend.’
The Igaratá dam is located in the Jaguari River reservoir in São Paulo, Brazil. It is a popular spot for locals and tourists for fishing and aquatic sports such as kayaking.
