Essex Police have called on members of the public who may have seen psychologist Vitoria Figueiredo Barreto, who went missing in Brightlingsea, to come forward
Police have traced the last movements of a Brazilian psychologist who vanished four weeks ago while she was walking alone in a dark boatyard.
Vitoria Figueiredo Barreto, an academic who was reported missing on March 4, was last seen on CCTV in two separate clips released by police investigating the 30-year-old’s sudden disappearance.
Ms Barreto, Essex Police said, disappeared in Brightlingsea, Essex, on March 3, after she saw a friend at the University of Essex in Colchester.
The first new clip captures a blurred figure believed to be Mr Barreto walking through a field near the town from where she vanished in the early hours of the morning.
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The figure, dressed all in black, is seen off in the distance of the clip walking across a field between Back Waterside Lane and Mill Street, at 3.33pm. It was taken an hour after she was seen in the Hurst Green area of Brightlingsea.
The second clip, the last sighting of Ms Barreto, captures her walking through an industrial site near Brightlingsea Creek and the marina.
Investigators who uncovered an unmoored boat found adrift down the coast at Bradwell-on-Sea believe the vessel may have been taken by Ms Barreto.
The psychologist was last seen wearing a dark coat paired with a blue turtleneck jumper, a pair of light blue jeans and black trainers while carrying a white shoulder bag with the slogan “people over profit”.
Family members keenly following the search as it enters its fourth week have said they feel “scared” and “really worried” for her welfare.
In a statement issued to a press conference, they said they believe she may be “upset” or “struggling”. They said: “We know she was probably not in a good place.
“She’s probably out of her mind, upset, struggling – we don’t really know why and we don’t want to judge it, we just want her with us. “She needs to feel protected. She needs to feel loved. This was not her behaviour – that’s why we are so scared. Please help us find this amazing person who makes such a difference in this world. We need to find Vitoria.”
Police have reiterated a major plea for information since releasing the CCTV, calling on members of the public who may have seen her in the field on March 3 or boatyard the following day to come forward.
Essex Police Detective Superintendent Anna Granger said: “Whilst we are not able to conclusively say that it was Vitoria who unmoored that boat, which was then found adrift at Bradwell-on-Sea, this new confirmed sighting brings her closer to that area and does strengthen the view that it was her.
“We’ve always based our searches on the basis that the person is Vitoria but we would dearly love to provide her loved ones with certainty – and we’re continuing to work to do that.”
