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Fareed Hajjar, bottom inset, faces charges of mutilation and trying to conceal the body of Suzan Barbosa-Ferreira, top inset, found lying in a culvert in Michigan. (Screenshot from the road WJBK/YouTube; Hajjar’s mug shot from Dearborn Police Department via WJBK; Victim’s photo from GoFundMe)
A Michigan man faces charges after the naked and mutilated body of a 42-year-old mother of two from Brazil was found on the side of a road while she was vacationing in Detroit.
Fareed Hajjar, 57, was charged on Friday with two counts of dead bodies – disinterment and mutilation and concealing the death of an individual in the death of Suzan Barbosa-Ferreira, authorities said.
The case came to light on June 30, the Dearborn Police Department said in a news release.
Residents happened to notice a bad smell and found the nude body, later identified as Barbosa-Ferreira, in a culvert along a dirt road near the 7700 block of Earhart Road in Northfield Township, police said.
“It was really a sickening and shocking discovery,” said Deb Rondon, one of the two people who found Barbosa-Ferreira’s body, told MLive Media Group.
Details about how she died haven’t been released. The connection between the victim and the suspect was also not disclosed.
Investigators said they traced Barbosa-Ferreira’s last known location to a residence in Dearborn and arrested Hajjar on July 9 in connection with the case, officials said.
“Our officers worked around the clock with Northfield Township to identify, develop a person of interest, and gather sufficient evidence to present the case to the prosecutor’s office,” Dearborn Police Cmdr. Timothy McHale said. “While we have obtained some charges in this case, this continues to be an ongoing and very active investigation.”
McHale encouraged those with information to come forward, saying, “We urge the community to contact us with any and all information so we can learn more about this tragic incident and deliver further justice and closure to the victim’s loved ones.”
The victim’s sister Renata Santana said she had been traveling in the U.S. and was a few days away from flying to the United Kingdom to visit her when she learned she died.
“It’s very sad that knowing family was looking for her. He just left her body there for a week, dumped,” Santana told local Fox affiliate WJBK.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to raise funds to bring Barbosa-Ferreira’s body to her home in Brazil.
“We need your help to bring her home, to allow her to rest in peace,” the page said. “Please Help us to give to the family an opportunity to say the last goodbye.”
Hajjar was held at the Washtenaw County Jail on $2 million bond. He is set for a motion hearing on Thursday, online court records show.
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