Disturbing Video Emerges of Suspect Simulating ‘Throwing a Body’ from Same Ponte do Esqueleto Before Maria Eduarda Death

A newly surfaced video has sent fresh shockwaves through the investigation into the death of 21-year-old Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas, showing one of the arrested suspects casually simulating the act of throwing a body from the exact same spot on Ponte do Esqueleto weeks before her fatal June 13 plunge.

The grainy footage, obtained by Brazilian media and verified by police, depicts a man — now among the six arrested in connection with the unlicensed operators Entre Cordas and Ih Voei — standing at the edge of the 40-metre (131-foot) abandoned federal bridge in Limeira, São Paulo state. He repeatedly mimes hurling an imaginary person into the void, laughing with colleagues and gesturing as if practising the “Superman” launch that would later kill Eduarda. The video, filmed in late May or early June, predates the tragedy by days or weeks and has been described by investigators as “deeply disturbing” and potentially evidence of a reckless, almost playful atтιтude toward the lethal risks involved.

Eduarda’s death occurred when three crew members carried her to the same edge in a “Superman” pose, helmet on, arms outstretched in the requested “airplane” position. They launched her without the safety rope attached — the cord remained coiled on the platform. Viral multi-angle footage captured onlookers screaming “Attach the cord!” too late. She hit the ground but was still alive; off-duty nurse Rayza Dias performed CPR, pleading “Nobody dies on my shift.” Eduarda died at the scene. Hours earlier she had posted a light-hearted Instagram story: “Who was the crazy person who let me jump off a bridge???” Her mother, Valdenia Rodrigues, later wrote after Sunday’s burial, “That damned rope took you from me forever.”

The new video has intensified scrutiny of the operators’ mindset. Prosecutors argue it demonstrates a culture of complacency and desensitisation to danger at the unregulated site, which has now seen at least three fatalities in recent years. “This is not a one-off mistake,” one investigator told reporters. “It suggests they treated the most dangerous moment of the activity as a game.” The footage strengthens the case for homicide charges with dolus eventualis (eventual intent) against the three instructors, as it shows prior awareness — and apparent indifference — to the catastrophic consequences of failing to attach the rope.

Public reaction has been visceral. Social media users have condemned the simulation as “sickening” and “proof they knew exactly what could happen.” Demands for upgraded murder charges have surged, with many arguing that practising the throw without safety protocols reveals reckless acceptance of lethal risk rather than simple human error. The companies’ earlier deletion of all social media accounts now looks even more suspicious in light of this pre-tragedy video.

Eduarda was buried on Sunday in Jandira amid widespread mourning. Friends remembered her vibrant energy and pᴀssion for sport. The bridge itself is now slated for demolition by controlled explosives to prevent further tragedies, a move welcomed but criticised as too little, too late.

As the investigation deepens, the disturbing video has transformed the narrative from “tragic oversight” to something far more sinister. One basic safety step was never taken — and now evidence suggests the crew had rehearsed the very motion that ended a young woman’s life. Brazilian justice must decide whether this was extreme sports gone wrong or something far darker. The world is watching.