Rebeca Cristina case: after 15 years, second suspect remains unknown The death of teenager Rebeca Cristina turned 15 this Saturday (11). The student was found dead in a forested area in Jacarapé, in João Pessoa, on July 11, 2011. Despite the conviction of the victim's ex-stepfather, Military Police corporal Edvaldo Soares da Silva, there is genetic evidence that has never been attributed to anyone. The investigation maintains that he did not act alone. Photos of Rebeca Cristina are displayed in several places in her grandparents' house, in João Pessoa Dani Fechine/G1 For those close to Rebeca, this gap brings the feeling that justice has not been completely served. This is the case of Mykaelle Arruda, the teenager's best friend. "What's the point of him being arrested, but the rest not being arrested? Complete justice was not served," Mykaelle told TV Cabo Branco. g1 revisited the Civil Police investigation report into the case and spoke with police chief Glauber Fontes, who presided over the investigations. ? Click here to follow the g1 PB channel on WhatsApp The investigations Rebeca Cristina was found dead on July 11, 2011 Reproduction/TV Cabo Branco The Civil Police took more than five years to indict the main suspect. Before concluding the investigation, the police exhausted at least 10 lines of investigation, according to police chief Glauber Fontes, who was in charge of the case. The investigations had the support of criminologist Ilana Casoy, known for working in high-profile cases, such as the murders of the Richthofen couple and the girl Isabella Nardoni. Despite the breadth of the investigations and the subsequent indictment of the main suspect, at least a second person involved, who was considered by the police, was never identified. Disappearance and death Rebeca Cristina Alves Simões, 15 years old, left her home at around 6:50 am, in Mangabeira VIII, South Zone of João Pessoa, to go to the Military Police College, located in the same neighborhood. After the student did not return home at the time she usually returned from school, the mother was surprised by the delay. When looking for the educational institution, he discovered that his daughter had not even attended classes that day. It was then that the searches began. "When I missed her, I called, I kept looking. I had gone to school to find out, and the principal called several people, several students, and they said: 'no, Rebeca didn't come today', 'I didn't see Rebeca', and so on. Then he told me to go to the police station", recalled Tereza Cristina. That same day, at around 2:20 pm, the teenager was found dead in a thicket on the banks of PB-008, in Mata de Jacarapé. The body was recognized by Edvaldo Soares and Rebeca's uncle, Joseilton Melquíades da Silva, known as Jó. Rebeca's mother remembers the moment she received the news. “When I got home, there was a crowd of people in front, but I was so upset that I arrived and said: ‘I’m going to have to go to the police station, I just came to get the documents.’ Then my sister said: ‘Rebeca was found, but she’s dead’”. Rebeca Cristina was found wearing only underwear and with a gunshot wound to her head. The expert report indicated that the teenager was a victim of sexual abuse while still alive and that her death occurred between 8:10 am and 12:10 pm on July 11th. The only person convicted by the popular jury of Edvaldo Soares da Silva, accused of being a co-author of the death of Rebeca Cristina Dani Fechine/G1 Military Police corporal Edvaldo Soares, Rebeca Cristina's former stepfather, was the only one indicted and convicted of the crime. The indictment only came in 2016, more than five years later. In 2019, he was convicted of double homicide, for a base motive and with an appeal that made it difficult for the victim to defend himself, as well as aggravated rape, with a sentence of 31 years in prison. A DNA test ruled out the presence of Edvaldo Soares' semen or blood in Rebeca Cristina's body. However, investigations found at least 22 signs of the police officer's involvement in the crime. According to the case report, among the signs is the fact that the corporal was absent from work twice on the morning of July 11th. He, who worked at the Róger Prison, in João Pessoa, did not participate in the 7:30 am military training and, after returning at 8:10 am, asked for permission to leave the prison, citing a private matter. Edvaldo returned between 10:30 am and 11 am and, at around 11:10 am, he requested a new departure, stating that he needed to help his wife because his stepdaughter had not returned from school. At that time, according to the police investigation, Rebeca's mother still did not know about the girl's disappearance. Another point identified by the investigations is that the military police officer had a history of sexual crimes. At the time, a neighbor of the family said, in a statement, that Rebeca Cristina was uncomfortable with some of her stepfather's inappropriate jokes. "There is already a history of sexual crimes against minors in this area, not resulting in death, but with similar conduct, just not death, which only happened in Rebeca's case," said police chief Glauber Fontes. Despite this, Edvaldo never confessed to the crime, according to police chief Glauber Fontes. "He never confessed to the crime, but, based on the evidence, from the elements we gathered, there was no doubt. So much so that the Jury Court sentenced him with a very high penalty for this crime." During the jury trial, he claimed that he was being accused as a "scapegoat" to "give society satisfaction" and that no investigator wanted to continue with the case. The defendant also said that he treated Rebeca like a daughter. "It was a father-daughter relationship. I tried to play the role of breadwinner," said Edvaldo. Regarding the alleged second person involved, who was never identified, the police chief reports that in some statements, even without having formally confessed, Edvaldo gave the impression that this person was executed. “The impression we have, this is our impression from those who dealt with it, is that the other person was executed, the other person died, because in his statements, he implied that the other person was as if he were unreachable, you know? But we could never be sure of that.” Days preceding the crime Rebeca Cristina, aged 15, one day before her death, in João Pessoa Dani Fechine/G1 According to the investigation, the night before the crime, Rebeca Cristina went to a service at an evangelical church. Witnesses who were at the church that night reported that the teenager cried a lot during the celebration, but did not tell anyone present why. The student called her best friend, Mykaelle Arruda, inviting her to go to church with her, as she had something very important to reveal. However, the friend had a headache and therefore declined the invitation. That was the last time the two spoke. “She called me wanting me to go to church a lot, saying: ‘please come, come’. And that left a lasting impression on me to this day, because it was the last time I heard her voice, that I could talk to her,” Mykaelle told TV Cabo Branco. During the investigations, people close to Rebeca Cristina stated that, in the previous days, the student showed changes in her behavior: she was quieter. Testimonies from friends and neighbors showed evidence that the motivation for this change was problems in the relationship with the stepfather. Two of her closest friends testified that the student had recently discovered messages on her stepfather's cell phone that signaled an extramarital relationship with another man. Despite being advised against it by her friends, the student confronted the man, who started trying to buy her silence with gifts. Therefore, Mykaelle says that she always knew that Edvaldo had some involvement with Rebeca's death and that she was uncomfortable with her stepfather showing grief and interest in resolving the case. It didn't take long for the man to start threatening her. "It was unbearable to see that scene, because I knew it was him. I knew because of everything we had seen, on the cell phone, from the messages. I was very angry, because he was always by my side there to pressure me not to tell. He came here a lot at home, threatened me, threatened me on the phone, threatened me in person." Other investigators Exams carried out on Rebeca Cristina's body showed that genetic material was found in the victim's intimate region. The genetic profile, however, does not match that of the man convicted of the crime. According to Glauber Fontes, the delegate responsible for the investigation, more than 50 people were subjected to DNA tests during the investigation, including Rebeca's boyfriend at the time of the crime, an ex-boyfriend and employees of the school where the teenager studied. The Civil Police investigated at least ten suspects. All were later discarded after checking alibis and other evidence that showed they had no involvement in the crime. "We drew about ten lines, between ten and twelve, and then, on each line, several steps were taken." The police chief points out that one of the difficulties that investigators encountered was the fact that the person convicted of the crime, Edvaldo Soares, was a police officer and understood how investigations worked. "Being a military police officer, he knew a little about the dynamics of the investigation and tried to make it very difficult. For example, a crucial point is that he insisted on being on duty on the day of the crime, and the exit log book only stated that he had left at 2:30 pm in the afternoon, but then, when we went to listen to all the military police officers from the previous shift, we found that, even without the log book, he had left twice before without appearing in the book, so this was crucial for us to move forward." Interrupted dreams Tereza Cristina, Rebeca's mother Reproduction/TV Cabo Branco The mother, Tereza Cristina, of 15 years, has to live daily with the pain of missing the teenager. "There isn't a day in my life, in these 15 years, that I don't miss her. Even eating black beans, I remember my daughter, which was what she liked most", he told TV Cabo Branco. The woman still keeps photographs, t-shirts and personal objects, such as a stuffed bear that belonged to her daughter, and thinks about how the girl would be today, if her life hadn't been interrupted in such a brutal way. "Her dream was to be a doctor at Samu and a veterinarian. (...) Sometimes, when I stop to think about everything I lost, my daughter couldn't achieve it and I, as a mother, couldn't either... I will never be able to see my daughter graduate, walk my daughter to the altar, she had a dream of getting married, she could have been a mother too." Most watched videos from g1 Paraíba