Brazilian would be hiding from the FBI in Brazil, after she and her husband kept a woman in a state analogous to slavery in the US for 20 years
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In recent days, a story involving a woman living in an abandoned house has gained public attention. Margarida Bonetti, who introduces herself as Mari, is a Brazilian who fled the United States and the FBI after keeping, with her husband, a woman in a state analogous to slavery for about 20 years. Hiding in Brazil since then, she rarely appears outside the abandoned-looking house where she lives in Higienópolis, an expensive neighborhood in São Paulo. The column now tells you the details of this story and the mysteries that still surround it.
The case gained great repercussion in Brazil after a podcast by the newspaper Folha de S.Paulo called A Mulher da Casa Abandonada. In it, journalist Chico Felitti reveals everything he discovered about the case over six months of investigation.
Margarida Bonetti was from the São Paulo elite. A descendant of barons, she moved to the United States due to her husband’s work, Renê Bonetti, who is an engineer and, at the time, worked for a company that provided services to NASA. But the two were not alone: according to Cidade Alerta, Margarida’s relatives hired a woman to move in with the couple and take care of the house where they would stay.
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As was discovered much later, after complaints from neighbors, the employee spent 20 years living in a basement of the house. She received no salary and was assaulted by the couple, in addition to not having access to the lockers or refrigerator of the place.
It was then that Bonetti fled the country and was considered a fugitive by the FBI, while her husband, who became an American, remained in the country. He was imprisoned for 7 months and, at the time of the trial, stated that the employee could not be considered as such, as she was “family” and worked less than the couple. Currently, Renê earns a salary equivalent to R$ 1 million. Margarida, on the other hand, moved to the house in Higienópolis, where she lives to this day.
Life of Margarida Bonetti in Brazil
“Mari”, as she introduced herself to her neighbors, rarely appears outside her house, in addition to always using a type of white cream all over her face. Some say she uses the product to avoid being recognized, while others think she may have a skin condition.
With the repercussion of the case in Brazil in recent weeks, dozens of people crowded the street where Bonetti lives, to try to see her. Also during this period, Luisa Mell entered the place to rescue the two dogs that lived in the house, without meeting the resident. But where, then, is she?
In last Monday’s Cidade Alerta (4th), it was revealed, live, that the Civil Police of São Paulo entered the outside of the property, also without success in finding Margarida. The state of the house, according to photos and videos captured by drones, is of an abandoned location. With a lot of mess inside and a backyard with weeds and trees without care, some neighbors believe that it is hidden in the basement of the place, one of the 20 rooms of the house. Others suspect that, after the repercussion of the case, she fled the scene at dawn, with the help of someone. Neighbors still claim that Bonetti has children who live close to his mother.
Also according to Monday’s Cidade Alerta, the Civil Police has already requested authorization from the Justice to enter the property and, possibly, put an end to the case.
