Vittoria Figueiredo-Barreto, 30, vanished while on a visit to a UK university – police said they are studying CCTV and knocking on doors as their ‘concerns for her grow’
Fears have grown after a young woman vanished in the UK five days ago – after boarding a bus on a university campus.
Police have said they are “very concerned” for Vittoria Figueiredo-Barreto, 30, after the psychology student went missing while on a trip to the UK, to see whether she wanted to start a doctorate. It is understood the woman had been staying with a female friend living in Colchester, Essex, and had been reportedly been taking part in some research and academic training activities at the University of Essex.
Vittoria’s friends have now shared a disturbing theory after the woman, originally from Brazil, was last seen near a week ago.
One of the woman’s friends claimed CCTV footage showed the psychologist getting off a bus and heading towards Brightlingsea Harbour in Essex. The pal expressed fears Vittoria could have fallen victim to human trafficking.
Essex Police Detective Superintendent Anna Granger, in a new update on Sunday, said: “Vitoria’s been missing for almost a week now and every day that she’s missing our concerns for her grow. We have been studying CCTV, we’ve got officers going to door-to-door in the area she was last seen, and we’ve been speaking to her friends and family.
“Vitoria, if you’re reading this, please get in touch. We just need to know you’re ok. I need anyone living or working in the Brightlingsea area to check their CCTV, doorbell or dash cam footage to see if they may have captured her movements.”
Friend and fellow psychologist Fernanda Silvestre told Brazilian tabloid newspaper O Povo, on Friday, that Vittoria’s phone is paired with hers and activated the emergency mode, which sent a signal whose location was pointing to the sea She said: “Vitoria would go to university in the morning, they would have lunch, and she would take the bus to go sightseeing around London.
“So far they have searched hospitals, looked for people without documents, checked bank transactions, and are searching the surrounding area, but I haven’t seen this work being done at sea.” Fernanda said her friend had visited the UK before intending to return to Brazil in May for a conference.
She added: “Vittoria speaks at least four languages, is very charismatic, and knows how to get by. She has travelled internationally several times.” Fernanda, according to another Brazilian outlet, said she feared Vittoria could have been the victim of human trafficking.
She said: “Her mum is in London and they are taking the necessary steps but due to the seriousness of the situation, searches need to be carried out at sea and other European countries need to be alerted because from the clues we have, we realise this may be a case of human trafficking.”
Essex Police shared their first appeal on Thursday, and said: “We are looking for Vitoria Barreto who is missing from the Southend area. Vitoria is 30 years old and is white, of medium build and height and has long dark brown hair. She was last seen at the University of Essex campus in Wivenhoe, Colchester, on Tuesday. And we believe she boarded a bus heading to Brightlingsea the same day.
“She was last seen wearing a dark coat, a blue turtleneck jumper, light blue jeans and black trainers. She was carrying a white shoulder bag with the words ‘people over profit’. We’re worried about her and need to check she is ok.”
In today’s updated appeal they wrote: “Thirty-year-old Vitoria was last seen boarding a number 87 bus in Boundary Road at just after 1pm on Tuesday and got off 30 minutes later in Bellfield Avenue, Brightlingsea. We believe that later that same evening she may have been in the #BrightlingseaHarbour area.
“We are working hard to locate Vitoria. We are very concerned and need to find her to make sure she is okay. Please take a look at these two new images of Vitoria as this is what she was last seen wearing. If you have seen her or have any information about where she might be then please call us immediately on 999.”
The missing psychologist, from the city of Fortaleza in northeast Brazil, left the country in January to travel to Morocco for a conference before jetting to Britain.
