Police release CCTV of missing Brazilian academic rowing in British marina before 'leaving harbour on unmoored boat' as search for her enters fourth month

By SOPHIA STANFORD, NEWS REPORTER Published: 16:39, 5 July 2026 | Updated: 16:41, 5 July 2026 CCTV appearing to show a missing woman in a rowing boat the day she disappeared has been released by police. Vitoria Figueiredo Barreto, a clinical psychologist from Fortaleza, Brazil, has not been seen for 121 days since she vanished on March 4. Recently released footage shows the 31-year-old's last-known movements in the Brightlingsea area of Essex as she wanders around a boatyard in the early hours. There is additional CCTV of a woman rowing away on a boat and then boarding another boat which drifts out of the harbour. Previously shared CCTV footage showed a person who police believe to be Vitoria walking alone along the waterfront after climbing over a metal fence into a boatyard on Brightlingsea pontoon at 12.16am.  Police said at the time the 'vessel does not appear to have had its engine started and, over the next few hours, began drifting out of the harbour before ultimately coming to a rest close to Bradwell-on-Sea later in the morning'. At around midday on March 4, the boat was found adrift in the water close to Bradwell-on-Sea with the lifesaving buoyancy aid used to help passengers float in the water during emergencies missing. Vitoria was reported as missing four months ago after she didn't turn up to meet her friend and fellow psychologist, Lilian Silva, with whom she had been staying at her home in Southend. Vitoria Figueiredo Barreto, 31, had been in the UK visiting her friend Liliane Silva and staying at her home in Southend, Essex, when she went missing on March 3  Recently released footage shows the 31-year-old rowing away on a boat and then boarding another boat which drifts out of the harbour At 12.22am she was seen walking through an industrial site, south of Copperas Road, close to a pontoon area where it is believed she took the rowing boat Your browser does not support iframes. Unfortunately, despite extensive searches and months of detailed enquiries, police have been unable to locate her. In March, Essex Police were searching the waters around Brightlingsea Harbour however physical searches came to an end to instead pursue 'a number of investigative avenues' alongside 'international partners'. Detective Superintendent Anna Granger said: 'While significant investigative work has taken place over the past four months, we know that for those closest to Vitoria every day without answers is incredibly difficult. 'We remain in regular contact with Vitoria's loved ones, both here in Essex and in Brazil and they continue to be updated on our enquiries and remain at the centre of everything we do. '120 days is a significant milestone, but for Vitoria's family and friends we know it is yet another day without the person they love. 'Behind every appeal, every search and every enquiry is a family who continue to live with uncertainty. 'We know many people have followed Vitoria's story since March. We are asking them not to forget her. 'The video we are releasing today brings together the chronology of Vitoria's known movements and we hope it may prompt someone to remember something, however small, which could help us.' Officers are reviewing information relating to Vitoria's phone and financial records amongst other evidence, meanwhile anyone with information is being asked to contact Essex Police. The senior detective added: 'Although these enquiries have been extensive, the information obtained so far has not provided evidence of any substantial or unexpected activity after Vitoria disappeared. 'That does not lessen our determination to find answers. We continue to explore every reasonable line of enquiry available to us and the public remain an important part of those enquiries. Two CCTV stills show Vittoria got on the number 87 bus in Boundary Road just after 1pm on March 3 and got off 30 minutes later in Bellfield Avenue, Brightlingsea Blurry CCTV footage showed a person who police believe to be Vitoria walking alone along the waterfront after climbing over a metal fence into a boatyard on Brightlingsea pontoon at 12.16am 'If you remember seeing Vitoria, or believe you may have information which could assist our investigation, we would urge you to come forward, no matter how insignificant it may seem.' Vitoria's friend and fellow psychologist Fernanda Silvestre, who she lives with in the city of Fortaleza in north-eastern Brazil, has previously urged police to stage a reconstruction of events. Ms Silvestre argued the reconstruction would help establish whether or not something else happened, such as Vitoria being forced to flee from some kind of danger, ingesting something that altered her state of mind or even being kidnapped or trafficked. On the day she was last seen, Vitoria had been working on a project about mental health services in the UK and Brazil with Ms Silva. They had spent the previous day at the University of Essex Colchester campus in Wivenhoe Park where Ms Silva works as a lecturer in clinical psychology and Vitoria had been exploring the possibility of doing a doctorate degree at the University of Essex. Whilst taking a break together by the pond on campus, Ms Silva asked the usually very 'talkative' Vitoria what was wrong after noticing she had been 'quiet, upset' and acting 'airy and confused'. But Vitoria refused to open up, telling her friend they would talk later instead - a reaction friends and family say was very out of character for her.  When Ms Silva left the campus at around 1pm, Vitoria told her she was going back to the library to continue working on their project about mental health services and that she would see her later. However, for reasons yet to be discovered, Vitoria did not return to the library and instead was seen on CCTV boarding the 87 bus on Boundary Road just outside the campus. She stayed on it for 30 minutes and got off on Bellfield Avenue in Brightlingsea - an area her friend said she had never been to. Ms Silva said search history on Vitoria's Google account led her to believe she had been trying to get the 87 bus going the other way to Colchester, but accidentally got on the wrong one on the other side of the road, forgetting cars drive on the left in the UK. Vitoria had been wearing a dark coat, a blue turtleneck jumper, light blue jeans and dark trainers with white soles on the day she went missing. The last person thought to have seen her in person is Justin Francis and his partner who were walking their dog along Bellfield Avenue when a woman matching her description approached them and introduced herself as Vitoria. Mr Francis said she asked if she could come into their home, but did not explain why. She was then spotted on doorbell footage in the Hurst Green area of Brightlingsea shortly after 2.30pm. Her tote bag - which had the words 'people over profit' adorned on it - was found nearly a week later on March 9 just off Copperas Road, in Brightlingsea. Her laptop was also found in Brightlingsea on March 14. Speaking at a press conference with Essex Police in March about her friend's mental state, Ms Silva said: 'We know that she is probably not in a good place, she is probably out of her mind, upset, struggling. We don't know why and we don't want to judge it now, we just want her with us. 'She needs to feel protected, she needs to feel loved. It was never her behaviour, that's why we are so scared since the first second.' After a press conference with Essex Police, Ms Silva and her boyfriend and Vitoria's mother and partner found her travel coffee cup with a used teabag inside in the green area where her bag was found. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. 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