The Eloá Pimentel hostage crisis, as it is known, refers to the October 2008 incident involving 15-year-old Brazilian girl Eloá Cristina Pimentel, who was kidnapped, taken against her will and held

hostage A hostage is a person seized by an abductor in order to compel another party, one which places a high value on the liberty, well-being and safety of the person seized—such as a relative, employer, law enforcement, or government—to act, o ...

before being

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

ed by her 22-year-old ex-boyfriend, Lindemberg Alves. Additionally, Pimentel's friend, Nayara da Silva, was shot by Alves. The tragedy received major media exposure, not only because of the murder, but also because of blatant mistakes made by the São Paulo police. Eloá Pimentel was held as a hostage for 100 hours – the longest kidnapping ever registered in the

State of São Paulo State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

. The trial of Alves commenced on 13 February 2012, exactly three years and four months after the crime.

Kidnapping

On 13 October 2008, Eloá Pimentel, Nayara da Silva and two male friends were working on a school project when Pimentel's 22-year-old ex-boyfriend, Lindemberg Fernandes Alves, broke into her apartment in

Santo André Santo ('saint' in various languages) may refer to: People * Santo (given name) * Santo (surname) * El Santo, Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta (1917–1984), Mexican wrestler and actor * Bob Santo or Santo, stage name of Ghanaian comedian John Evans Kwad ...

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

, holding a

pistol A pistol is a type of handgun, characterised by a gun barrel, barrel with an integral chamber (firearms), chamber. The word "pistol" derives from the Middle French ''pistolet'' (), meaning a small gun or knife, and first appeared in the Englis ...

. He soon released the two boys but held Pimentel and da Silva. The ''

Grupo de Ações Táticas Especiais The Grupo de Ações Táticas Especiais ( Portuguese for ''Special Tactical Actions Group''), mostly known by its acronym GATE, is a hostage rescue, bomb disposal and Counter-terrorism unit of the Military Police of São Paulo State in Brazil ...

'' (Special Tactical Actions Group, or GATE) closely followed the situation. On 16 October, da Silva was eventually released by Alves, but she offered to return to the apartment, as requested by the police, to try to negotiate with the kidnapper. After she entered the apartment, she was held hostage again. Hours later, after hearing gunshots, the GATE decided to storm the apartment, however many dispute this and state that there were no gunshots before the police forced their entry into the apartment. They eventually stopped and immobilized Alves, but not before he shot Pimentel twice and da Silva once. Pimentel was taken to the hospital, where she was declared

brain dead Brain death is the permanent, irreversible, and complete loss of brain function, which may include cessation of involuntary activity (e.g., breathing) necessary to sustain life. It differs from persistent vegetative state, in which the person i ...

and taken off life support on 18 October, at 23:30 BRT (2:30 GMT on 19 October), thirty minutes before the beginning of BRST.

Aftermath

Pimentel's body was buried in Jardim Santo André cemetery, Santo André, in a ceremony attended by ten thousand people. Her

heart The heart is a muscular Organ (biology), organ found in humans and other animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels. The heart and blood vessels together make the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrie ...

lungs The lungs are the primary organs of the respiratory system in many animals, including humans. In mammals and most other tetrapods, two lungs are located near the backbone on either side of the heart. Their function in the respiratory syste ...

liver The liver is a major metabolic organ (anatomy), organ exclusively found in vertebrates, which performs many essential biological Function (biology), functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the Protein biosynthesis, synthesis of var ...

pancreas The pancreas (plural pancreases, or pancreata) is an Organ (anatomy), organ of the Digestion, digestive system and endocrine system of vertebrates. In humans, it is located in the abdominal cavity, abdomen behind the stomach and functions as a ...

kidneys In humans, the kidneys are two reddish-brown bean-shaped blood-filtering organs that are a multilobar, multipapillary form of mammalian kidneys, usually without signs of external lobulation. They are located on the left and right in the retro ...

and

cornea The cornea is the transparency (optics), transparent front part of the eyeball which covers the Iris (anatomy), iris, pupil, and Anterior chamber of eyeball, anterior chamber. Along with the anterior chamber and Lens (anatomy), lens, the cornea ...

were donated to the benefit of seven people. It was later discovered that her father, Everaldo Pereira dos Santos, was a suspect in the murder of two people in the state of

Alagoas Alagoas () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil and is situated in the eastern part of the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region. It borders: Pernambuco (N and NW); Sergipe (S); Bahia (SW); and the Atlantic Ocean (E). Its capital is ...

. Dos Santos fled during the incident but was captured in

Maceió Maceió (), formerly anglicised as Maceio, is the capital and the largest city of the coastal state of Alagoas, Brazil. The name "Maceió" is an Indigenous term for a Spring (hydrology), spring. Most maceiós flow to the sea, but some get trapped ...

on December 28, 2009. Alves' trial lasted for four days in February 2012. He was found guilty on twelve counts and sentenced to 98 years and ten months of imprisonment. Brazilian law, however, limits the penalty time to thirty years.

Controversy

The tragedy was widely discussed because of the mistakes committed by São Paulo police, especially the fact that they allowed da Silva to return to the apartment. Marcos do Val, a Brazilian

SWAT A SWAT (''Special Weapons and Tactics'') team is a generic term for a police tactical unit within the United States, though the term has also been used by other nations. SWAT units are generally trained, equipped, and deployed to res ...

instructor, also pointed out other mistakes such as allowing the kidnapping to last for so many days, not shooting Alves with a

sniper A sniper is a military or paramilitary marksman who engages targets from positions of concealment or at distances exceeding the target's detection capabilities. Snipers generally have specialized training and are equipped with telescopic si ...

, taking too long to storm the apartment after breaching the door and not using the back door or the windows. The Brazilian media was heavily criticized following the outcome of the case. Former BOPE (Special Police Operations Battalion) member and sociologist Rodrigo Pimentel, in an interview with the

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, condemned the Brazilian media's coverage, arguing that the TV stations

RedeTV! RedeTV! (, also Rede TV! or RTV! or TV Ômega) is a Brazilian television network owned by Amilcare Dallevo and Marcelo de Carvalho. It is the newest television network, among the five major networks in Brazil, being a relaunch of Rede Manchete ...

Rede Record Record (stylized in uppercase; ), formerly known as Rede Record and RecordTV, is a Brazilian free-to-air television network. It is currently the second largest commercial TV station in Brazil, and the 28th largest in the 2012 world ranking. In ...

, and

Rede Globo TV Globo (stylized as tvglobo; , ), formerly known as Rede Globo de Televisão (; shortened to Rede Globo) or simply known as Globo, is a Brazilian free-to-air television network, launched by media proprietor Roberto Marinho on 26 April 1965 ...

were "irresponsible and criminal", and declared that the "Public Prosecutor's Office of

should hold these TV stations to account". On 15 October 2008, RedeTV! journalist Sônia Abrão interviewed Alves and Pimental live by telephone, interfering with the hostage negotiations. Abrão's show, ''A Tarde É Sua'', which had a daily average of 2 points on

IBOPE The Brazilian Institute of Public Opinion and Statistics (IBOPE based on the Portuguese language name, Instituto Brasileiro de Opinião Pública e Estatística) is a Brazilian originated global market research company. IBOPE provides data on media ...

, peaked at 5 points during the interview. According to sociologist and journalist Laurindo Leal Filho, who presented the program ''Ver TV'' on

TV Câmara TV Câmara () is a Brazilian public television network responsible for broadcasting activities from the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies. Created in 1998, it broadcasts 24 hours a day from the Chamber. Censorship In March 2009, Chamber President ...

about ethics on television, the interference of a broadcaster in a case like this, besides being dangerous, is unconstitutional. The Federal Public Prosecutor's Office (MP) decided to file a public civil action against the presenter for airing the interview. The MP stated that the interviews interfered with ongoing police activity and put the lives of the teenager and those involved in the operation at risk, and asked for a compensation of 1.5 million

reais The Brazilian real ( pl. '; sign: R$; code: BRL) is the official currency of Brazil. It is subdivided into 100 centavos. The Central Bank of Brazil is the central bank and the issuing authority. The real replaced the cruzeiro real in 1994. ...

for collective moral damage.

In popular culture

In 2016, an episode of the true crime documentary television series '' Investigação Criminal'' was released about the case. The "Eloá Case" was portrayed in TV Globo's ''

Linha Direta ''Linha Direta'' (lit. ''Direct Line'') is a Brazilian television program broadcast by Globo Network. Similar in style and loosely based on the United States program, ''America's Most Wanted'', this program has helped the Brazilian authorities ...

'' program on 4 May 2023.

References

External links

Eloá Pimentel hostage crisis
at

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Pimentel, Eloa 1993 births 2008 deaths 2008 murders in Brazil Child murder in Brazil Formerly missing Brazilian people People murdered in Brazil Kidnapped Brazilian people Hostage taking in Brazil Kidnappings in Brazil Kidnapping in the 2000s Incidents of violence against girls