Marco Eli Chereze dies - unexplained circumstances

On February 15, 1996, 23-year-old military police officer Marco Eli Chereze dies at Hospital Bom Pastor in Varginha. According to his family and lawyer Ubirajara Rodrigues, Chereze was involved in the retrieval operation and fell rapidly ill afterward. His official death certificate lists a bacterial infection of unknown origin. Pathologist Dr. Cintia Lucchetta later confirmed to Rodrigues in an interview that the infection was unusual. The armed forces have denied any connection to the case. Important note: the direct link between Chereze's death and the Varginha incident is not conclusively proven.