A young man, Eduardo Mauricio da Silva, 23, was discovered disoriented in a wooded area five days after attending a New Year’s Eve church service and going missing in Bertioga, a municipality in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. On December 31, Eduardo reportedly asked to be dropped off by a colleague near a highway in the Sítio São João neighborhood, claiming he was heading to a friend’s house.
His family last heard from him around 2 am on January 1 when he messaged his father to request a car through an app. However, his father only saw the message later in the morning, realizing Eduardo was not at home. The missing person report was filed by Eduardo’s father at 5 pm that day, and surveillance footage later showed him in a wooded area in the Caiubura neighborhood. Eduardo was eventually located after a man contacted the family upon spotting him.
Eduardo was found by his family and friends in a remote forest on January 5, appearing weak, malnourished, and disoriented. The circumstances surrounding his disappearance remain unclear, but his aunt mentioned that he seems emotionally shaken. The Fire Department, upon being alerted, discovered Eduardo had already been found and was hospitalized in Baixada Santista.
Coincidentally, on the same day, another man named Roberto Farias Tomaz went missing on Pico Paraná, the highest point in southern Brazil. After five days of searching, Roberto was found after walking 20km through challenging terrain and woodland to the Cacatu area of Antonina. He was taken to the hospital for assessment, having survived on limited supplies of food and water without a phone.