Rio de Janeiro's Civil Police arrested Ana Paula da Costa, 29, accused of kidnapping eight-month-old baby Maria Cecília and attacking her mother, Rosimere da Hora, 40, with fire. The child was rescued in Cataguases, Minas Gerais, while Rosimere remains in critical condition in hospital. The suspect may face charges of kidnapping, attempted murder, and child abandonment.
On Tuesday, December 16, 2025, Rio de Janeiro's Civil Police arrested Ana Paula da Costa in Cataguases, Minas Gerais, where she was found with the baby Maria Cecília. The 29-year-old suspect, originally from Minas Gerais, is accused of kidnapping the child and setting her mother, Rosimere da Hora, a resident of Morro da Providência in central Rio de Janeiro, on fire.
Rosimere, 40, met Ana Paula through social media. The suspect promised to donate shoes for the baby and visited the family home for three days the previous week, using wigs to disguise her appearance, according to residents' reports to Delegate Elen Souto of the Missing Persons Unit.
On Thursday, December 11, around 2 p.m., Ana Paula left Morro da Providência with Rosimere and her two youngest daughters: eight-month-old Maria Cecília and a six-year-old child, under the pretext of picking up the donations. Witnesses saw the suspect leave the community only with the baby. Around midnight that day, Rosimere was found injured by firefighters in front of Parque União in the Maré favela, with about 30% of her body burned. She is intubated at Hospital Getúlio Vargas in Penha, northern Rio zone, awaiting transfer to a specialized burns unit.
Investigations show Ana Paula fled with both children. On Friday, December 12, she hitchhiked to Cataguases and, during the trip, abandoned the six-year-old girl at a snack bar in Baixada Fluminense, telling the driver the baby was her daughter and the other belonged to a friend in Guapimirim. The six-year-old was taken to a shelter under the guardianship council's care in Baixada. The baby was rescued safely with Minas Gerais police support and is now under the local guardianship council in Cataguases.
Ana Paula has a habit of traveling to Rio, staying in areas like Maré and the Barbante community on Ilha do Governador. The Institute Between Heaven and the Favela, active in Morro da Providência, confirmed the family was found alive and is providing support for Rosimere's recovery and the children's care. The case remains under Civil Police investigation, and the suspect had not presented a lawyer at the time of publication.
