Brazilian Footballer's Decapitated Head Sent to Wife by Drug Lords

A terrible story has been reported by Brazilian news outlet Globo concerning the brutal murder of former professional footballer João Rodrigo.

João Rodrigo started playing football as a 19-year-old for Bangu in 1996, With a career that spanned from 1996 to 2005, Rodrigo Silva Santos played for several teams in Rio such as Bangu and Nacional and also played abroad at Olimpia (Honduras) and Oster Vaxjo (Sweden).

On Monday night Rodrigo, 35, was kidnapped as he left the restaurant he was running in the district of Realengo in Rio de Janeiro since retiring from football. Then, at around 4.30 am on Tuesday morning, his wife was woken up by a noise outside her house, and when she went to investigate she found the decapitated head of her husband on her porch.

Horrifically, João Rodrigo’s head was missing its eyes and tongue.

Santos’ wife, Geisha Silva, works as a social worker in Rio’s Pacification Units.  The unit is working to try to take the favelas (shanty towns) back from drug lords. As reported by Roper, investigators are trying to determine whether her work at a military police base in the area could have triggered the murder.

Police chief executive Rafael Rangel confirmed Silva is a social worker and doesn’t possess the power to make arrests in the street, per Brazilian newspaper O Dia.

Bruno Santos, a friend of João Rodrigo, told Globo: “He was a good family man. He lived for football and played until recently. He had no enemies.”

A few of photos of João Rodrigo can be seen below.