- Márcio Rodrigues went missing in Zurich, Switzerland on November 8
- The 44-year-old traveled from São Paulo, Brazil, to meet with businessmen to complete a deal to sell therapeutic goods
- He sent his wife an audio indicating he thought he was scammed by the businessmen and that his passport had been taken away before going missing
A Brazilian man has been missing in Switzerland after he traveled there to sign off on a business deal and sent his wife a cryptic message in which he told her he hoped God would keep him ‘alive.’
São Paulo resident Márcio Rodrigues, 44, flew to Zurich the evening of November 7 and connected in Barcelona before he continued to north-central Swiss city, where he landed the following day.
Rodrigues, who worked selling therapeutical products, contacted his wife, Ana Cera, on November 8 at 5:45 am local time in Brazil and sent her multiple audio messages along with a video, Brazilian online news outlet G1 reported.
At 5:56am, she received a message from husband, who expressed his concerns because he did not speak English.
According to Cera, Rodrigues was going to contact a Spanish-speaking person to serve as a translator in Switzerland.
The couple chatted again at 6:47am and again at 8am and 8:11, when he shared a photo of the airplane in the background.
Cera received another message at 8:32 am from Rodrigues, who told her he felt lost because of the language barrier and that he still needed to locate the carrousel number to pick up his two luggage, including one that contained the therapeutic items.
Nearly five hours passed before Cera got several audio messages from Rodrigues, who informed her that he had spent four hours at the airport and that his passport had been taken after meeting up with the businessmen.
In a message at 1:32pm, he expressed concerns about having been scammed.
‘Pray for me, because I think I fell into a trap. My God, in half an hour I’ll know what’s going to happen to me,’ Rodrigues told his wife. They said that in 15 minutes, half an hour, they will bring me my passport. But I’ve been waiting here for almost four hours.
‘I met with them, they took a photo of my face, brought a machine to take my fingerprints and took my passport (to be scanned).’
Rodrigues boarded a taxi to his hotel in hopes of recovering the passport and sent another audio to Cera at 1:34pm. It would be the last time she heard from her missing husband.
Cera said that after traveling to Zurich, Rodrigues was going to return to Spain to present therapeutic products to a group of businessmen.
The São Paulo received a missing person’s report from Cera and it was relayed to the Federal Police, which notified Interpol.
The Zurich Cantonal Police opened an investigation into Rodrigues’ disappearance, according to G1.
Laura Adams is a tech enthusiast residing in the UK. Her articles cover the latest technological innovations, from AI to consumer gadgets, providing readers with a glimpse into the future of technology.
