A Brazilian influencer is feared dead after he jumped from a cruise during a fight with his girlfriend
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- An influencer is feared dead after he jumped from a cruise ship on New Year's weekend.
- Carlos Alberto Mota Candreva went overboard after a fight with his girlfriend, news outlets reported.
- His girlfriend said they argued about their relationship status, and Candreva threatened to kill her.
An influencer is feared dead after he jumped from a cruise ship and disappeared on New Year's weekend.
Carlos Alberto Mota Candreva went overboard after a fight with his girlfriend, several outlets reported.
The news was first reported on New Year's Eve by Brazilian website Metrópoles, before Candreva had been named.
The outlet reported that he went missing in the early hours of December 30, 2023, after falling 40 km from the 15th floor of the MSC Preziosa cruise liner, which was traveling from São Paulo to Rio de Janeiro.
Candreva was a DJ, programmer, author, and travel content creator with 18,000 followers. On his YouTube channel, he made videos about current affairs, with some of his most popular videos being about love and relationships.
The Brazilian Navy carried out a search for Candreva, a spokesperson for Brazil's 8th Naval District Command told Business Insider, and activated a patrol vessel immediately after a passenger of the cruise liner fell into the water. They did not confirm whether or not Candreva had been found, or whether the search was ongoing.
In a statement to BI, an MSC Cruises spokesperson confirmed a male passenger on MSC Preziosa "intentionally went overboard in the early hours" of December 30.
"Two of MSC Preziosa's tender boats conducted a search for several hours but despite extensive efforts to locate the passenger, he was not found," they said.
"The incident was reported immediately to the relevant authorities and the Coast Guard released the ship to carry on with its voyage."
They added the search continued throughout daylight hours on December 31.
"Our thoughts are with the passenger's family at this very difficult time," they said.
Just a few hours previously, Candreva had been sharing videos to his Instagram story.
In one clip, he said he was "enjoying" the trip so far. In another, he said: "I love sunsets."
But things soured when Candreva had an argument with his girlfriend Vitoria Barbara Momenso, whom he was on the cruise with, she told Brazilian news outlets.
She told Metrópoles in an interview Candreva had taken her cellphone, and they had disagreed about whether to make their relationship exclusive. He became angry when he saw she had been speaking with other men, she said.
"He saw my conversations with other men and sent screenshots to friends saying he was thinking about killing me," she told the outlet. "He intended to kill me."
Momenso told Brazilian outlet G1 that Candreva said she was making a fool of him, and he felt like a "clown."
"He thought he couldn't see me with someone else, that he couldn't handle it," she said. "I'm going to be traumatized for the rest of my life."
Several passengers witnessed the incident. An influencer named Francisco Garcia caught the moment on video, where an announcement over the ship's tannoy system informs guests a man had gone overboard.
Another passenger, Felipe Theodoro, said in an Instagram story he heard the couple arguing, then three sirens, which meant someone was in the sea.
"Everything stopped," he said.