A 21-year-old woman was thrown off a Brazilian bridge in a “Superman” pose — and the rope meant to save her was still lying on the platform.
Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas, a recent physical education graduate from Jandira, near São Paulo, had booked a guided rope-jump experience at the Ponte do Esqueleto, or “Skeleton Bridge,” in Limeira. On Saturday, June 13, staff carried her to the edge of the structure and launched her, according to witnesses. She fell roughly 40 meters — about 130 feet — to her death.
“The Rope, People, the Rope”
Video circulating online shows two crew members lifting de Freitas by her arms and legs and sending her over the edge. Seconds later, bystanders can be heard screaming warnings about the unattached cord, which the footage shows still on the platform. Emergency crews, including a helicopter, responded, but she was pronounced dead at the scene.
Her fiancé, Higor William Diniz Ferreira, was waiting nearby and reportedly filming the moment. He became ill after witnessing her death and required medical treatment, though he survived.
‘I Can’t Remember’
In the chaos that followed, two men allegedly tried to flee into nearby woods. Police tracked them down with a helicopter search and arrested them at the Skeleton Bridge trail.
One of those men, Luis Felipe Feliciano Egoroff, 32, was asked who handled the final safety check before de Freitas jumped. According to police accounts, his answer was simple: “I don’t remember.”
Egoroff and two others — Vitor de Freitas Gonçalves, 27, and Maicon Fernandes Cintra, 42 — now face charges of homicide with implied malice, a designation under Brazilian law for knowingly accepting the risk that someone could die.
An Operation With No Permit
Civil police delegate Andrea Dantas Levy said the crew running the event had no authorization to be there. “It was a team there that wasn’t regulated,” she told Brazilian outlet G1. “This fatality happened today, in my perception, due to a failure to verify and supervise the placement of the rope.”
Reports indicate roughly 100 people were on site for jumps that day. A judge ordering the three men held described the death as “avoidable” and the result of “gross negligence in the execution of a high-risk commercial activity.”
What We Know

De Freitas, 21, fell about 130 feet from Skeleton Bridge in Limeira on June 13
She was launched without her safety rope attached; the rope was found on the platform
Her fiancé witnessed the fall and was treated for shock
Six people were detained; three men were charged with homicide with implied malice
Two suspects fled and were found via police helicopter
Police say the operation lacked authorization to run jumps at the site
A judge ordered the three charged men held in custody

Why This Matters
This tragedy taps into a fear many Americans carry into every adventure-tourism booking: that the people responsible for your safety might be unqualified, unregulated, and unaccountable — until it’s too late. Extreme sports tourism has boomed worldwide, often built on social media ads promising experienced guides. De Freitas’s death is a stark reminder that a viral video and a confident pitch are not the same as a licensed operation.
It also raises a justice question that resonates broadly: when negligence costs a life, who answers for it? A judge has already signaled that “I can’t remember” may not be enough.
Closing
For Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas, what should have been a thrilling leap became a fatal one — and for her fiancé, a front-row seat to the worst moment of his life. As prosecutors build their case, Limeira’s mayor says the federal government must finally secure a bridge that, he says, has “presented known risks for years.”