A man and a woman in Brazil died after their car — believed to be the setting for an intimate encounter — plunged off a cliff.
The victims, identified as 26-year-old Marcone da Silva Cardoso and 42-year-old Adriana Machado Ribeiro, were in Venda Nova do Imigrante on Monday, Aug. 4, when they parked near a scenic overlook. According to CNN Brazil and The Sun, apparent movement from the couple’s intimate moment may have caused the vehicle to drop hundreds of feet.
Local official Alberto Roque Peres told CNN Brazil that Cardoso and Ribeiro had been at a party earlier that night before heading to the area, where the ground was wet. The car ultimately rolled down a hang-gliding ramp before plunging over the edge.
Military Police told CNN Brazil that a local caretaker discovered the wrecked vehicle later that morning. Both victims were found naked at the scene.
Citing local media, The Sun reported that police believe the car went over the cliff around 1 a.m. The couple was thrown roughly 328 feet, with their bodies found at the base of a rock formation and vehicle debris scattered among nearby vegetation.
Peres told The Sun that there were no signs of foul play and the handbrake was engaged, suggesting the car’s movement — not a brake failure — led to the accident. Residents reported hearing a loud crash between 1:30 and 2 a.m., but darkness and thick vegetation obscured the scene until daylight.
Authorities say the case remains under investigation as they await forensic reports, though no evidence currently suggests third-party involvement.
Photos shared by CNN Brazil and the New York Post show the car’s remains scattered far from where it landed. “I saw the car’s engine very far away… it was a shocking scene,” witness Tiago Amorim told the Post.
Ribeiro was a mother of two, and Cardoso leaves behind a 4-year-old son, CNN Brazil reported.
