Woman found dead in river remembered in touching ceremony
Cecilia Haddad‘s heartbroken mother and brother have held a church service in her honour, six days after the Brazilian businesswoman’s body was found floating in the Lane Cove River, in Sydney.
Holding white roses and comforted by family, CecIia Haddad’s mother walked into church in Rio de Janeiro, for the service she never thought she’d have to endure.
“Her mother asked us to bring a rose and pray for her. I came to pray for her soul to move in peace,” family friend, Marina Matosinhos said.
Old friends, distant relatives, and former colleagues united in the hustle of Rio De Janeiro, to remember the 38-year-old, whose life was cruelly cut short.
“What happened to Cecilia is not normal. In the name of her family and friends, we want justice,” the family lawyer, Olivia Furst said.
When Cecelia moved from the crime-filled streets of Brazil to Australia more than a decade ago, her family could only assume she’d be in a safer place.
“Cecilia was a fantastic girl, very intelligent. For those who saw how far she had gone on her professional life will certainly understand she deserved it al,” childhood friend, Daniele Suzuki said.
Now all they can do is wait, while police follow several leads, interviewing friends in Perth, diving the depths of the river where her body was found.
“We are counting on the press, the public and the authorities,” Ms Furst said.
A key person of interest in the case is her ex-lover Mario Marcelo Santoro.
He flew to Rio on the same weekend of her murder, but did not attend the special service, dedicated to Cecelia’s short and precious life.
