Soccer Legend's Body Goes Missing in Brazil

'My father did not deserve this,' says Garrincha's daughter
By Linda Hervieux,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 1, 2017 11:30 AM CDT
Soccer Legend's Body Goes Missing in Brazil
Soccer legend Garrincha led Brazil to two World Cup titles.   (Wikipedia)

What happened to Garrincha's body? That's what Brazilians are asking after the soccer great's remains went missing. The one-named, two-time World Cup champ's family revealed the odd disappearance on Tuesday, telling O Globo via the BBC that Garrincha's body may have been lost during an exhumation, though nobody knows for sure. A cousin says per ESPN FC the remains were removed from a grave in a cemetery near Rio 10 years ago, after another family member was buried there. Garrincha's bones were supposed to be transferred to a niche, but cemetery officials concede they have no idea if that ever happened. "It's very upsetting not knowing where he is," says daughter Rosangela Santos.

Cemeteries in Brazil are typically divided into two parts, one with tombs and another with concrete niches set like drawers into walls, per the BBC. Two tombs carry Garrincha's name: the original grave where he was laid to rest in 1983, and a second one constructed in 1985 and marked with an obelisk. If the family agrees, Mage Mayor Rafael Tubarao says he'll order an exhumation of the graves and DNA tests of any bones. Garrincha, a nickname meaning "little wren" in Brazil's Portuguese dialect, is widely revered as the nation's greatest dribbler of all time. As one of Pele's teammates, he helped the soccer-crazed nation clinch the World Cup in 1958 and 1962. He died at the age of 49 after years of heavy drinking. (A father revealed his son's remains 20 years after his murder.)

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