The mother of a 21-year-old Brazilian woman who was thrown to her death during an improperly secured rope jump has shared a deeply emotional tribute, describing her daughter as her “princess” in a series of heartbreaking social media posts that have since gone viral across Brazil.

Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas died on Sunday after being hurled from the 130-foot Skeleton Bridge in São Paulo state in an incident that investigators say involved a catastrophic safety failure by the instructors responsible for her jump. Authorities allege the safety rope was never attached before she was launched from the structure.

In the aftermath of the tragedy, her mother, Valdenia Rodrigues, took to social media to express her grief, writing that she could barely comprehend the loss of her daughter, whose final moments were captured in widely circulated video footage.

“My beloved daughter, today alone I wanted to hug you more than a thousand times,” she wrote.

“How much your departure hurts me. I love you eternally, my princess. And thank you so much for being a part of my life for these 21 years.

“What an honor it was to hear you call me mom. God, thank you for this privilege.”

The post quickly spread online, drawing more than half a million likes as users from around the world reacted to the shocking circumstances of Freitas’ death and the emotional weight of her mother’s words.

The incident has become one of the most widely discussed recent cases involving extreme sports safety in Brazil, with authorities confirming that three instructors have been arrested and charged with homicide with intent. The suspects have been identified as Luis Felipe Feliciano Egoroff, 32, Vitor de Freitas Gonçalves, 27, and Maicon Fernandes Cintra, 42.

Investigators allege that Freitas was lifted and thrown from the bridge without being connected to any safety rope, despite appearing to be prepared for a standard rope-jump experience. Video footage reportedly shows instructors positioning her before she is released from the structure.

According to police statements, the case involves multiple layers of alleged negligence, including confusion among staff about who was responsible for securing the equipment.

The instructors’ attorney has acknowledged that the men were confused about their roles in the final safety checks. He said all three had participated in preparing Freitas for the jump, but none could clearly confirm who had completed the critical step of attaching the rope.

“I spoke with them, and they were all responsible for the inspection,” the attorney said in comments reported by Brazilian media.

“First, they put on a kind of vest, and then the rope.”

Despite these claims, investigators say early findings suggest a failure at the most basic stage of safety protocol, raising serious questions about how the operation was being conducted and whether proper oversight existed at all.

After the fatal fall, Freitas’ body was recovered at the base of the abandoned bridge, which has become a site of informal and unauthorized extreme sport activities in recent years. She was buried in São Paulo on Sunday as her family and friends gathered to mourn her sudden death.

In a separate message posted after the funeral, her mother again expressed her anguish, focusing on the moment she believes changed everything.

“That damn rope took you away from me forever,” she wrote.

“My beloved daughter, you are gone and here there is only pain and longing. I love you forever.”

The emotional messages have intensified public scrutiny of the operators involved in the jump, particularly after it emerged that the activity may have been conducted without official authorization. Authorities confirmed that six individuals were taken in for questioning following the incident, with three ultimately charged.

According to local reports, two of the instructors briefly fled the scene after realizing the severity of what had happened. They were later located in a nearby wooded area following a coordinated search operation involving a military helicopter.

The third suspect remained at the site and was detained without incident.

Police say early witness accounts suggest confusion and panic immediately after Freitas was thrown from the bridge, with some individuals reportedly unsure of who had completed the final safety steps.

A police source described the case as one involving “multiple points of failure,” where responsibility was allegedly shared but not properly executed by any single person.

The tragedy has also prompted renewed criticism of unregulated adventure tourism in Brazil, particularly at abandoned or structurally unsafe sites that have become popular with thrill-seekers.

Safety experts say that while rope jumping and similar activities can be performed safely under controlled conditions, they require strict protocols, trained personnel, and regulated environments.

Matthew Lawrence, a bungee safety consultant who has worked internationally in the industry, said the circumstances described in this case represent a fundamental breakdown in procedure.

He noted that in regulated environments, multiple safety checks are designed specifically to prevent a single oversight from becoming fatal.

“It is as egregious a mistake as you could ever imagine in anything like that,” he said, referring to the alleged failure to attach the rope.

Lawrence added that in countries like the United States, strict legal and regulatory consequences have significantly reduced the likelihood of such errors occurring at licensed facilities.

However, he suggested that in less regulated environments, informal operators may lack the training or oversight necessary to maintain consistent safety standards.

Back in Brazil, investigators are continuing to reconstruct the final minutes before Freitas’ death. Officials have confirmed that over 20 people were present at the site at the time of the incident, including spectators and participants waiting their turn.

Among them was Freitas’ boyfriend, who reportedly witnessed the fall.

Authorities say one of the key unanswered questions is whether proper equipment was even in place at the time of the jump. Early reports suggest that while a rope was present on site, it was not connected to the victim when she was launched from the bridge.

Police deputy Andrea Dantas Levy has indicated that investigators are also exploring claims that key participants experienced confusion or “blackouts” when recalling the exact sequence of events.

“They said they can’t remember where and when the fault occurred,” she told Brazilian media.

The investigation has also drawn attention to the history of the Skeleton Bridge itself, an abandoned structure that has reportedly seen multiple accidents in recent years. Despite warnings and prior incidents, it continues to attract unauthorized adventure activities.

As the legal process moves forward, the three charged instructors face potential prison sentences if convicted. Prosecutors argue that the decision to proceed with the jump despite unclear safety procedures constitutes extreme negligence under Brazilian law.

Meanwhile, Freitas’ family continues to grieve the sudden loss of a young woman remembered by loved ones as energetic and full of ambition.

Her mother’s words, now shared across social media millions of times, remain at the center of public reaction to the case — a personal expression of grief that has come to symbolize the human cost of a momentary but irreversible failure in safety.