A fitness influencer who was shot dead in her car in front of her family had switched from driving an armour-plated Porsche just days before the killing, it has emerged,
Weight loss expert Luanne Murta Jardim dos Santos Martins, 30, died from a shot fired into the car in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Sunday, 21st May.
Luanne’s boyfriend Joao Pedro Farche said he and their son were in the car at the time, but survived the shooting.
He later wrote for Luanne’s 370,000 Instagram followers: ‘I’m not very good with this. I want to thank everyone who is sending many, many messages.”
He added: “I’m fine, Miguelzinho is fine too. Miguelzinho hurt his face. He has some shrapnel in his face. But he’s fine. He was in the back seat. But that’s it.
“As soon as I have any information, I’ll share it here. Thank you to everyone who’s sending messages. Our family is very loved.”
Now local media reports that just 15 days before the shooting Luanne stopped using an armoured Porsche and switched to a vehicle with no protection.
Luanne, who was in the passenger seat, was hit by a bullet fired through a closed window that entered her shoulder and became lodged in her heart.
She was taken to the Hospital Municipal Salgado Filho but died from her wounds.
The Homicide Division of the Capital is investigating the case and has said that Luanne may have been killed during an attempted robbery.
They are also investigating whether she received any threats before the shooting.
Joao Pedro reportedly told police that Luanne had previously been threatened by an unnamed ex-boyfriend.
The influencer’s father has told local media that the gunmen had chased the car and opened fire from behind before pulling alongside it and shooting Luanne.
Grieving Atanael Jardim dos Santos said that no robber would open fire on a car they intended to steal.
He told local media: “Surely, this wasn’t a mere theft, a robbery.
“This was a homicide because no one inside a car would steal from another and shoot from inside the car with the window closed.”
Luanne also leaves behind a ten-year-old daughter.
The influencer had two Instagram profiles, one with 575,000 followers and the other with 350,000 followers.
On one, she wrote how she had “lost more than 42 kilogrammes” (93 lbs) using weight loss pills.
And on the other, she described herself as a “multipreneur” and wrote about “weight loss, overcoming, diary of a former obese person”.
Luanne used her social media pages to post snaps of her VIP lifestyle with images of helicopters, Porsches, Ferraris, and Lamborghinis and trips all round the world.
Formerly overweight and depressed, Luanne sold weight loss products to her followers and told them how they could achieve a lifestyle like hers.
She told in one post from August 2020: “I wasn’t obese, but during my first pregnancy, I gained a lot of weight.
“After the pregnancy, I experienced severe depression and reached 120 kilogrammes (19 stone).”
She recalled: “It was very difficult to take the first step because I couldn’t engage in physical exercises, aerobic activities, nothing.
“And during that phase, I was also in a very toxic relationship. We have no self-esteem and will accept anything.
“Not to mention the insults, because there’s always someone in the family making jokes, and so on. It was a very tough period.”
According to Luanne, she completely transformed herself by taking diet pills, as well as having five weight reduction ops.
During a trip to the Maldives in November last year, Luanne wrote from her five star luxury hotel: “Today is my birthday, and I took a super Instagrammable photo to post, but those who know me are aware that reality hasn’t always been like this.
“In these 30 years that I complete today, five years were lost to obesity – difficult times, low self-esteem, tears, and compulsions.
“There were days when I simply didn’t want to exist; the reflection I saw in the mirror hurt me. That wasn’t me.
“No social media, no photos? I wouldn’t take them; I would cry and hide. It hurt to see people’s reactions on the street, to not fit into any clothes.”
According to Luanne herself, she earned around BRL 5 million (GBP 812,000) in less than a year from selling products on one platform alone.
