19th-Century Steel Bridge Stolen From Prados Recovered at Resort After R$700,000 Sale

Overview

• Investigators located the roughly 20‑meter, English‑made bridge at an Ibiti Projeto unit in Lima Duarte after it disappeared from Prados and the buyer presented a R$700,000 invoice for the purchase.
• Documents given to police include two sales invoices and a Federal Highway Police transport authorization dated June 1, which the resort used to justify the move and which authorities are verifying.
• On‑site evidence in Prados shows tracks from heavy vehicles, marks of a backhoe and a deliberately blocked access road, suggesting the bridge was cut and moved with specialized machinery and trucks.
• The Polícia Civil opened a criminal inquiry for qualified theft, the Polícia Federal will open a separate probe, and the Ministério Público launched a civil investigation into damage to cultural patrimony and possible receptação charges.
• Investigators are clarifying chain of title after police said the seller was a resident who believed he owned the structure, and the outcome will affect local heritage protection, possible prosecutions and how buyers must verify antiquities' provenance.