A missing woman has been found buried inside a wall that was smoothed over with concrete.
Joice Maria da Gloria Rodrigue, 25, a student who lived with her husband and two daughters in Sao Vicente, Brazil was reported missing on 27 September after visiting her grandfather.
Her body was found on Tuesday, October 5, at a construction site after a builder noticed the smell of her decomposing body.
Police found the naked body of Joice with a t-shirt around her neck after knocking a hole in the wall at the site.
Police arrested two suspects, a bricklayer, 56, and a 35-year-old contractor, working on the building site.
Police said the contractor denied any wrongdoing, but the bricklayer confessed to killing the young woman and concealing her corpse, implicating his colleague in the crimes.
According to local media, he also told the police he had maintained consensual sexual relations with the woman before her death.
However, detectives have not ruled out the possibility of sexual abuse.
They are awaiting the findings of the post-mortem to determine if any crime of a sexual nature was committed.
Police chief Thiago Nemi Bonametti, heading the investigation, believes there was an argument at the site between the young woman and the contractor.
According to Bonametti, the contractor first started to strangle the woman before he asked for help from his colleague, who then assisted him.
After allegedly killing the woman, he said both suspects concreted her up in the wall.
He added the two men are believed to have continued working on the site for several days as if nothing had happened.
Police also seized plastic containers used to store cocaine and a bag containing knickers from the crime scene.
The two men remain in preventive custody as the investigation continues.