Minas Gerais police investigate death of woman forced to take R$ 32,000 loan

The Civil Police of Minas Gerais are investigating the death of 69-year-old Ramona Irene Cuevas Martinez, whose body was found carbonized and buried in a shallow grave in Jaíba. Martinez, a resident of Presidente Prudente, had traveled to northern Minas Gerais to meet a man with whom she was in a relationship.

Authorities arrested three men, aged 23, 25, and 53, in connection with the case. Preliminary reports suggest Martinez was kidnapped and forced, through violence and threats, to take out a R$ 32,000 bank loan. Following her disappearance on August 17, bank movements helped investigators track the suspects, who allegedly transferred the funds to their own accounts.

One suspect reportedly stated that Martinez was strangled and struck in the back of the head with an axe. The suspects are currently in the prison system facing charges related to the concealment of a corpse.