A Brazilian YouTuber and DJ is feared dead after he reportedly jumped from a cruise ship and disappeared on New Year’s weekend. Carlos Alberto Mota Candreva reportedly jumped from the 18-storey MSC Preziosa as it sailed from São Paulo to Rio de Janeiro along Brazil’s South Atlantic Ocean coast during a two-day New Year’s cruise following an argument with his girlfriend, model agency boss Vitoria Barbara Momenso, 27, according to Metrópoles.
“A thorough search was carried out on board and it was confirmed that the guest intentionally jumped overboard,” cruise operators MSC Cruzeiros confirmed. “The incident was immediately reported to the competent authorities and the Coast Guard released the ship to continue its journey.”
Videos by PopCulture.com
Just hours before he reportedly jumped and plummeted 200 feet into the ocean, Candreva shared several posts to social media from the cruise. In one video shared to Instagram, Candreva told his followers that he and Momenso were “still here at the Port of Santos, we are waiting to leave. Let’s see what it will be, there’s a party tonight. My suitcase hasn’t arrived at the cabin door yet. We’re here, enjoying it.” A second video, taped from the boat’s luxury restaurant, showed the cruise ship at sea as the sun went down. Candreva captioned the clip, “I Love Sunsets.”
The seemingly happy cruise took a turn, however, when Candreva argued with his girlfriend. Momenso told Metrópoles that Candreva wanted to make their two-year romance more exclusive, but she wanted to continue seeing other people. She said that when she was in the bathroom, the YouTuber “took my cell phone. I didn’t even know he had the password. He saw my conversations with other men and sent screenshots to friends saying he was thinking about killing me. He intended to kill me.” The outlet reported that people close to Candreva confirmed the content of the messages. Momenso told Brazilian outlet G1 that Candreva “thought he couldn’t see me with someone else, that he couldn’t handle it.”
Momenso said that later that night, Candreva told her she was making a fool of him before he jumped into the sea, an incident that was witnessed by several passengers. “I was very shocked. I just froze,” she said. “I can’t eat, I’m trying to eat, but it’s not going down. I will definitely have to go to therapy. I’m going to be traumatized for the rest of my life.”
A spokesperson for Brazil’s 8th Naval District Command confirmed to Business Insider that the Brazilian Navy carried out a search for Candreva and activated a patrol vessel immediately after a passenger of the cruise liner fell into the water. The Navy did not, however, confirm whether or not Candreva had been found, or whether the search was ongoing.
