It started off as a worrying case of a British woman missing abroad, and as the days went by with no sign of the 32-year-old, many began to fear the worst.
But the case of Charlotte Peet, who vanished in Brazil on February 8, has become curiouser and curiouser. At first there were conflicting accounts about whether she took a bus from Sao Paulo, where friends last heard from her, to Rio de Janeiro, the city where she lived for two years from 2020.
And as other details emerged, such as the fact that she flew to Brazil without telling her family, and that her phone was still switched on and receiving calls a week after going missing, it seemed that there may be more to the story than many at first thought.
News first broke that a British journalist was missing in Brazil last Monday, when a friend in Rio reported the case to the city’s tourist police after being contacted by Charlotte’s family.
The friend, who hasn’t been named, said she had last heard from Charlotte on February 8, when she messaged her from Sao Paulo saying she would be travelling to Rio and asking if she could stay with her.
The friend explained that her house was full and couldn’t accommodate her, and Charlotte stopped replying to her messages.
Sao Paulo’s missing persons unit, which took over the investigation, earlier this week revealed she had been seen boarding a bus at the city’s Tiete Bus Terminal, bound for Rio de Janeiro, but that after that the trail had gone cold.
Then last night police in Rio revealed the case was “solved” after they had geo-tracked one of her two mobile phones to several locations in the city, including bars, beaches and hostels close to the famous Copacabana beach.
“The main line of investigation is voluntary disappearance,” police chief Elen Souto said. Detectives were also able to give a precise time-line of her movements, stating she arrived at Rio’s coach station on February 8, then stayed in a hostel in Copacabana until February 17, when she moved to another hostel in the nearby Botafogo district, staying until Monday this week.
Since then, she has been “wandering around Rio”, according to police, who said the last known sighting was the Morro de Babilonia, a hillside ‘gentrified’ favela Charlotte already knew, and where she she voluntary work when she lived in the city.
Police believe Charlotte simply doesn’t want to speak to friends and family and appear to regard the case as closed – but the investigation also seems to have raised as many questions as answers…
Family kept in the dark
In his only interview, Charlotte’s father Derek told Sky News that they didn’t know she had travelled to Brazil. He said: “I wouldn’t say that it was normal, there was something on her mind obviously otherwise she would have let us know.”
Mr Peet said that after she was reported missing “she was then traced to Gatwick Airport and was found to have boarded a plane to Sao Paulo and then the trail went cold.
“It’s very worrying but I don’t have any more to say, I’m very concerned but I just don’t know what’s going on, we’re just trying to pick up the pieces really.”
Strange Facebook advert
Shortly after arriving in Brazil, Charlotte posted Facebook looking for a flatmate, advertising a “Bright master double room in beautiful Brixton house. Available ASAP from 1st Dec!”.
She added: “Living with three lovely girls in their mid 20s to early 30s. Comes with a cute pooch! We’re a nice friendly, chilled bunch and enjoying hanging out together and all get along well.”
But on January 22, she posted another advert saying she was “a professional and experienced dog carer” offering to pet sit “if you’re looking for someone reliable to take care of your pet while at work, away or on holiday”.
And on February 2 – six days before she disappeared – she again posted on Facebook saying she was “looking for a double room in South West/East London”. Charlotte seemed to be planning to return to the UK, but after advertising for a new flatmate why was she now looking for a new place to live? It remains a mystery.
Last messages
Charlotte appears to have been answering messages and phone calls as normal right up until February 8, when she told a friend in Rio that she would be arriving in the city that night and asking if she could stay with her.
The friend says that she replied to say her house was full and couldn’t accommodate her, after which Charlotte stopped replying to her messages and no longer replied to any other of her friends or family.
The pal, who would report her as missing a week later after being contacted by her family, has never been identified. It would seem odd that being told that her house was full would have provoked such an extreme reaction.
Hostel move
Police in Rio said yesterday that after arriving in the city on February 8, she stayed in a hotel in Copacabana, but moved to another hostel on February 17 – the day the friend made a missing persons report, and her case was picked up by the media.
Tracked movements
Police in Rio have been able to track her movements and even see photos she has taken in different locations, including bars, beaches and roads. It is not known how detectives have been able to access selfies she has taken on her mobile phone.
Most of the places have been around the area of Leme beach, next to Copacabana beach, with police saying her last known location was the Morro da Babilonia, a favela on a hillside at the back of the Leme district.
On Charlotte’s LinkedIn page she says she was a ‘community volunteer’ at the Favela Organica project in the Babilonia favela, which promotes waste reduction to eradicate hunger.
The favela is one of Rio’s “pacified” slums which welcomes tourists and is not under the grip of drugs gangs. But Charlotte still hasn’t been in touch with her worried family and it remains unclear what she’s doing in Rio.
