Fernanda Silva Valoz da Cruz Pinto’s family says she suddenly fell ill after eating a chocolate given to her by a woman posing as a palm reader.
Jam PressFernanda Silva Valoz da Cruz Pinto died in Brazil in August after eating chocolate given to her by a palm reader.
A 27-year-old woman died in Brazil after eating chocolate given to her by a palm reader who told her she would soon die.
Fernanda Silva Valoz da Cruz Pinto was walking through the city center of Maceió, Brazil, when she was stopped by an elderly woman who asked if she could tell Pinto her fortune. Pinto accepted — and the palm reader told her she only had “a few days to live,” according to the New York Post.
The fortune teller then gave Pinto a wrapped chocolate before they parted ways. Not thinking anything of it, Pinto ate the chocolate.
“As [the candy] was packaged, it didn’t occur to her [that it could pose any danger],” Pinto’s cousin Bianca Cristina told Brazilian news outlet Globo News. “And as she was hungry, she decided to eat it.”
Within hours of eating the chocolate, Pinto began to feel very sick, developing symptoms like severe stomach aches, impaired vision, and vomiting.
However, Pinto also suffered from an ulcer and gastritis, so she and her family didn’t think too much of it — until it was too late.
“She was an old lady. I ate it because it was well sealed, right? But I’ve been feeling so weak since then,” Pinto texted a family member, according to the Daily Mail. “My heart is racing. I’ve thrown up. But I have this taste in my mouth. So bitter. Bad. My vision is blurry. I’m so weak.”
Jam PressPinto texted family members in the hours leading up to her death saying she felt weak and ill.
A family member finally took Pinto to the hospital when her symptoms worsened. At that point, she was bleeding from her nose and foaming at the mouth. Pinto died on August 4 — one day after she ate the chocolate.
Now, an autopsy report has revealed she had high amounts of sulfotep and terbufos in her body, chemicals found in pesticides that are widely available in Brazil.
“These substances are highly prevalent in cases of poisoning [and] intoxication in Brazil due to their easy access, despite being regulated by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply,” said Thalmanny Goulart, the head of the chemistry and toxicology laboratory that analyzed samples taken from Pinto’s body during the autopsy, according to the Mirror.
Officials have not yet been able to confirm whether the chemicals came from the chocolate.
The local police’s homicide squad is investigating Pinto’s death. They are searching for the fortune teller that gave Pinto the chocolate but have not yet been able to identify her, and no arrests have been made.
Pinto’s family was baffled by the bizarre nature of her death. Family members said they don’t know why anyone would have wanted to kill her.
“I just know that Fernanda wasn’t a person involved in parties, chaos, anything like that,” said Lumenita Valoz, Pinto’s cousin. “I don’t see anyone having a reason to do this to her, but we don’t know anyone’s heart. If it was someone who ordered the killing or if the [fortune teller] killed her because she wanted to, only the police will find out.”
Pinto leaves behind a 9-year-old daughter with special needs.
Just a few months before Pinto’s death, another woman in Brazil died after eating poisoned chocolate.
54-year-old Lindaci Viegas Batista de Carvalho received a package from a courier on May 20 containing chocolates. At first, she refused to eat them, as she had received multiple threatening phone calls and messages on social media, until her ex-husband told her they were a birthday gift from him, according to the Daily Mail.
Both Carvalho and her son tried the chocolates, but her son spat them out and said they tasted bad. But Carvalho continued to eat them, and shortly after, she fell violently ill, her eyes rolling back in her head and her body contracting, her sister Lenice Batista said.
Carvalho’s ex-husband has since said he was joking when he claimed the chocolates were from him and said he had no idea who sent them. Carvalho’s sister said the two have a good relationship and that she doesn’t believe he would have done this.
Police are currently investigating Susane Martins, an ex-girlfriend of one of Carvalho’s former partners, as the main suspect.
After reading about the woman who died after eating chocolates given to her by a fortune teller, read about the woman who gave her doppelgänger poisoned cheesecake. Or, read about Baba Vanga, the blind fortune teller who made decades’ worth of eerie predictions.
