After an absence of nearly four months, actor Jeff Machado was found dead in Rio de Janeiro on Monday (22). The family names the victim’s friend as a suspect, as he rented the house where the actor’s body was found buried in a chest.

Actor Jeff Machado has been missing since January of this year – Photo: @jeffmachado/Instagram/Reproduction/ND

According to a person close to Jeff, who chose not to name him out of fear, the suspect could be a friend of the actor who is believed to be a fugitive. They were supposed to meet in mid-2019, after the man worked as an assistant producer at a television company.

Jeff dreamed of starring in a soap opera and prepared for it. “Their friendship was work related. He became close to Jefferson, they weren’t really friends. He told Jefferson he was going to get a soap opera role,” he said.

The source also told ND+ that the suspect took Jeff’s car, credit card, and house keys. According to the report, he would still try to mislead the actor’s search by claiming that Jefferson had fled to São Paulo but would be returning soon.

“When the family arrived in Rio de Janeiro to make a statement about his disappearance, this boy was in Jefferson’s car. He said that Jeff arranged to meet him at Avenida das Americas, handed over the car keys, credit card and house key. And there was another man in the car,” he said.

“And he asked:“ Friend, take care of my house, about my dogs. Stay here with my card to take care of my car because I’m leaving for Sao Paulo and will be back as soon as I can to organize everything and take care of everything,” he continued.

mistrust

Family members did not believe this story. “It seemed strange to us, because Jefferson had a family, he is not alone in this world, and if he had to do this in a pinch, he would have other friends who were very capable of this,” he explained. He.

The sudden disappearance of the actor has always caused distrust from the family, because, according to them, Jeff was passionate about dogs and would never leave them. He had eight English setters that were found abandoned by an NGO in Rio de Janeiro.

“When Jefferson disappeared and the dogs showed signs of life, he was contacted by a member of the Jefferson family. [o suspeito]because I knew that a few days before the disappearance they were together, ”he recalled.

But according to the report, the suspect wasn’t worried about his friend’s disappearance. “He was always worried about the consequences he might suffer for taking Jefferson’s stuff. After that, security cameras at Jefferson’s home saw him come and go many times. He was driving a car,” he said.

Investigation

Despite the accusation, the motives and authorship of the murder of 44-year-old Jeff Machado are still being investigated by the civilian police of Rio de Janeiro. The body of the actor was found on Monday in a chest buried two meters in the ground and later concreted.

According to family lawyer Jairo Magalhain, Jeff had his hands tied behind his head and a rope around his neck. In addition, the victim had signs of strangulation. Noteworthy is the fact that the chest in which the body was located belonged to the actor.

Who was Jeff Machado?

Passionate about art and animals, he studied journalism, cinema, worked as a model, press agent, producer and starred in the soap opera “Flight” on the Record TV channel. He played a Philistine soldier.

Jeff dreamed of starring in a soap opera – Photo: Internet/Reproduction/ND

Jeff’s dream was to get a leading role on television. According to mother Maria das Dores Machado, her son studied to improve his skills. “He took several courses to get the lead role,” he told ND+.

The actor’s mother also said that they were very close and talked via video link almost every day, until the communication began to get strange.

“He texted me that he left his cell phone in the toilet and therefore cannot make a video call. Everything justifies itself, ”he explained.

On another occasion, Das Dores tried again to establish contact with his son. “I said, ‘Son, talk to your mom. He said, “Now I can’t. Let it be calm here.” My son just disappeared,” Maria said.

“My son was diligent, handsome, had beautiful dogs, was successful. There must be a lot of evil in your heart to cause such harm to someone, ”the mother said then.