ARIQUEMES, RONDÔNIA, BRAZIL – FEBRUARY 24, 2026 Peaceful family gathering turned into a bloody massacre. A brutal shooting occurred at a rural estate, where an elderly man, José dos Santos (71), died on the spot, and his wife, Maria Aparecida (66), was taken to the hospital with severe chest and facial injuries. The entire region was shocked by the news that the person behind the attack was not a stranger, but their own granddaughter, 17-year-old Lorena dos Santos.
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- Lorena dos Santos
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- José dos Santos
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- Maria Aparecida
Investigators found that the attack was planned in cold blood. Lorena first asked her grandparents to sit with her on the sofa for a talk. Once they were in a defenseless position, she pulled out a gun and started shooting. She hit her grandfather in the back, killing him instantly. The grandmother survived only because she lay motionless after several shots and feigned death. The attacker even tried to shoot her again, but the gun jammed at the key moment, which saved the senior’s life.
The motive for this act is chilling. Lorena had gradually embezzled approximately 350,000 BRL (67,000 USD) from her mother’s inheritance, which she secretly transferred to her boyfriend’s account. When her grandfather discovered these thefts and had the accounts court-blocked to protect the family assets until his granddaughter’s majority, she decided to eliminate her grandparents.
After the crime, the suspect fled in a red pickup truck, and police launched an extensive manhunt for her. However, after two days on the run, Lorena turned herself in to the police accompanied by her lawyers. Given her age, she was immediately taken into pretrial detention and placed in a social-educational center. Police are now closing the case as first-degree murder and attempted murder, while continuing to investigate the possible complicity of her partner.
