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A Brazilian Olympic marathon runner has been missing for more than a month, his mom shared in an Instagram post
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Daniel Ferreira do Nascimento, who turned 28 on Tuesday, July 28, was last seen when he left his home at about 7 p.m. local time on June 19
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The athlete, who holds the South American marathon record, is currently serving a five-year suspension after failing an anti-doping test in 2024
The mother of a Brazilian Olympic marathon runner has revealed that her son has been missing for more than a month.
Daniel Ferreira do Nascimento, who turned 28 on Tuesday, July 28, left his home in Paraguaçu Paulista in the state of São Paulo at around 7 p.m. local time on June 19, his mom, Valdirense de Paula Ferreira, wrote on Instagram.
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She said that Nascimento, who represented his country at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, took only a black backpack with him and added that he has “psychological issues.”
According to a statement from the Brazilian Athletics Confederation, his mother and five siblings filed a missing person report on Monday, July 27. The organization also urged the wider sports community to support the efforts to locate Nascimento.
Credit: Daniel do Nascimento/Instagram
The São Paulo Secretariat of Public Security, which oversees the state’s police forces, told local newspaper O Dia that the General Investigations Department in the city of Assis was investigating the case.
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For her son’s birthday on Tuesday, Ferreira posted a photo of the two of them together on Instagram. “Congratulations, Daniel!” she wrote, translated from Portuguese. “Come back home — may God bless you, light your path, and bring you home safely. Happy birthday!”
Per local newspaper O Globo, the athlete — who also goes by the nicknames Armero and Danielzinho — is the current holder of the South American marathon record.
However, in July 2024, he tested positive for three banned substances, making him unable to compete in the Paris Olympics, which began later that month.
Credit: Erik S Lesser/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
On July 16, 2024, his team posted a statement on his Instagram account, in which they confirmed he failed the anti-doping test the previous day.
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“Mental health is important for any professional, from any field, to perform, and Daniel deals with traumas and mental issues that have led him to his worst stage in recent months,” the post — Nascimento’s most recent — read.
“However, communication with the athlete is practically non-existent, and all our efforts are focused on helping him with appropriate treatments,” the post read.
According to O Dia, the Athletics Integrity Unit gave him a five-year suspension in 2025, valid until July 2029.
Credit: Stuart Franklin/Getty
While serving his suspension, Nascimento returned to live with Ferreira in Paraguaçu Paulista and would accompany her to work, reported local outlet G1.
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She told the outlet that her son helped process cassava, a major crop in Brazil, and spoke of her heartbreak as his whereabouts remained unknown.
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“A mother’s feeling… a thousand things go through your head,” she told the outlet. “I think I’ve lost about 10 kilos [around 22 lbs.]. When it rains, you think about a lot of things. It’s very difficult.”
PEOPLE has reached out to Nascimento’s representatives and the São Paulo Secretariat of Public Security for comment, but did not immediately hear back.
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