Alma Bohadana has been identified as the Israeli tourist who tragically fell to her death in Rio de Janeiro. However, local police are investigating a scenario in which she may have been fleeing a robbery attempt, jumped over a fence, and fell to her death. According to local media reports, a male companion who was with her has been questioned three times by the police and has provided inconsistent explanations of the circumstances.
During the first interrogation, he claimed they were approached by a motorcyclist, but in the second, he changed his statement, saying it was a suspect in a red car. According to the latest version provided by Brazilian police, the two were walking on Almirante Alexandrino Avenue near Corcovado mountain around 7 p.m. on Monday when they spotted a motorcyclist and feared a robbery attempt. Also in his third interrogation, the Israeli companion told police that he and Bohadana had first met at a hostel in Copacabana, Rio.
Mario da Silva, a passerby near the scene, told Brazilian news network G1 that he heard people shouting for help. He went down a hill to assist Alma, but unfortunately, her death was confirmed on-site by medical personnel.
The investigation into Bohadana's death is being conducted by a police station that handles murder cases in the capital. The police are exploring whether there truly was a motorcyclist or a driver pursuing them. Investigators will also review area surveillance footage. "Further steps are being taken to examine the circumstances surrounding her death," the Rio de Janeiro police said in a statement.
According to The Daily Mail, Bohadana had been in Brazil alone for just over three months. She spent her first 90 days at a hostel in Salvador, in northeastern Brazil, and had moved to Rio 10 days prior to her death. Staff at the Salvador hostel remembered Bohadana as a charismatic individual. "She was a loving person, always smiling, singing and talking a lot," a staff member told G1. "She even painted a mural on our hostel wall."
Another employee described Alma as "radiant, talkative, and very intelligent. She learned the samba and shared her Israeli culture with me," she added, "Everyone at the hostel loved her, and it was impossible not to. She will forever remain with us through the mural she painted."
The Israeli embassy in Brazil is coordinating the repatriation of her body. "This is a sad and difficult case where a young Israeli woman was killed as a result of a fall from a height in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Department for Israelis Abroad at the Foreign Ministry and the Israeli consulate in Brasilia, along with Neta Avrahami and Mariano Hirsch, a representative of the Jewish Agency in Rio de Janeiro, are assisting the family during this difficult time and with the transfer of her body for burial in Israel," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.