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A 33-year-old Brazilian man died in Izmir, western Türkiye, while awaiting deportation to Brazil, prompting his family to demand an explanation after receiving conflicting accounts of where his body was discovered, according to CNN Brasil.
Lucas Nascimento de Medeiros had reportedly been held at a Turkish immigration detention center and was expected to arrive in Brazil on Oct. 12. However, his family later received information suggesting that he had been found dead in a hotel room, despite his last known location being a deportation facility.
His brother, Marcos Medeiros, told CNN Brasil that the family had not received a clear explanation of the circumstances surrounding his death.
According to Marcos, the family's last contact with Lucas took place on Oct. 8, when he shared his location and said during a phone call that he was at an immigration center.
Lucas reportedly told his relatives that he was scheduled to arrive at Guarulhos International Airport in Sao Paulo on Oct. 12.
However, when his expected arrival date came, his mother went to the airport and waited for him, only to learn that he had not boarded the flight.
After unsuccessful attempts to obtain information about his deportation, Marcos filed a missing-person report at a police station in Sao Paulo.
According to the police report cited by CNN Brasil, the family subsequently received a call from an unidentified number, purportedly on behalf of the Brazilian Consulate in Istanbul, informing them that Lucas had been found dead in a hotel room in Izmir.
Marcos said the family had also been told that his brother's body was discovered without identification documents and that illicit drugs had reportedly been found at the hotel.
However, he claimed that on Oct. 13, he received another call attributed to the consulate, this time indicating that Lucas had died at the immigration detention center rather than at a hotel.
The conflicting accounts raised further questions for relatives, particularly because the last location Lucas had shared placed him inside the immigration facility.
Marcos also described an alleged confrontation involving his brother shortly before his detention.
According to his account, Lucas had been involved in a religious dispute at a bar, during which he was allegedly assaulted and suffered cuts to his face.
According to the Brazilian media, Lucas had converted to Messianic Judaism approximately a year earlier and had a tattoo associated with his religious beliefs.
His brother said Lucas subsequently approached a police station to report the alleged assault but was instead detained by Turkish authorities and transferred to a deportation center.
Lucas, who had been living legally in Porto, Portugal, for approximately seven years, was visiting Türkiye to take a falconry course, according to his family.
The reasons for his detention and planned deportation were not established in the information provided by his relatives.
According to Marcos, the family was informed that further details about Lucas' death would only be provided once a relative arrived in Türkiye.
Following that communication, a female family member traveled to Türkiye to seek additional information about the circumstances of his death.
Brazil's Foreign Ministry, commonly known as Itamaraty, confirmed in a statement that it was aware of the case, remained in contact with the family, and was providing the necessary consular assistance.
The circumstances and location of Lucas' death remain unclear based on the accounts provided by his family.
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