Woman in a coma 21 years ago could be a young woman kidnapped two decades ago

A woman hospitalized in a coma for almost 21 years could be a woman kidnapped in 1976, in Guarapari, in the state of Espírito Santo, Brazil. Nicknamed clarinhaShe has been bedridden in Vitoria Military Police Hospital since she was hit by a bus.

Clarinha entered the health unit without any personal documents. Over the past two decades, various ways of identifying the patient have been tried, all of them unsuccessful. But last year new examinations have raised the expectation of discovering the woman’s identity.

A group of Papiloscopists from the National Public Security Force (FNSP) who work in Espírito Santo discovered the case and contacted the Espírito Santo Public Ministry (MPES), who were working to find out who Clarinha is.

The team used a facial comparison technique, with searches in databases of missing persons with physical characteristics similar to those of Clarinha, explained the MPES, in a statement.

On the basis of this work, papiloscopists found a 1 year old boy and a 9 month old boy who had disappeared in Guarapari in 1976. At the time of the disappearance, the girl’s family, originally from Minas Gerais, was on vacation in Esprit Holy.

Clarinha appears to be around 40 years old, according to the MPES. This age is considered compatible with that of the girl kidnapped while walking with her family on the beaches of Guarapari.

New procedures were performed to compare the physical similarities between the missing girl and Clarinha. A facial recognition examination was carried out by a company in Paraná specializing in this type of work, at the request of the MPES. The result confirmed that the images of Clarinha and that of the girl kidnapped in 1976 are compatible.

Another step in the identification process is underway. The MPES requested the genetic profile of Clarinha from a laboratory. The patient’s genetic material was also sent to the Civil Police of Minas Gerais, which keeps the data of the parents of the missing child in Guarapari.

The materials collected from Clarinha and the girl who disappeared in 1976 will be compared. “The public prosecutor of Espíritu Santo has requested a comparison between the genetic profiles and, at the moment, awaits the outcome of the procedures adopted by the civilian police of Minas Gerais,” said the MPES.

Clarinha was run over on a busy avenue in the center of Vitoria. According to witnesses, he was fleeing from an unidentified pursuer.

Initially, the patient was taken to the old São Lucas Hospital, in the capital of Espíritu Santo, and underwent several surgeries. Later she was referred to da PM hospital and since then lives in a vegetative state, cared for by medical and nursing staff.

In 2016, a report gave new courage to those trying to uncover Clarinha’s true identity. After the show, 102 families searched the MPES, trying to identify the patient as a possible missing relative.

Of this total, 22 cases advanced because they presented data similar to the profile of Clarinha or photos similar to the patient. DNA tests were then performed, but the results were inconsistent with family traits.

Now the MPES and professionals at the Vitória Military Police Hospital hope that the mystery of Clarinha’s identity will finally be solved.