Mom-to-be killed by 'womb thief' who wanted her baby in horrific attack

At 36 weeks pregnant, Flavia Godinho Mafra was so close to finally meeting her new baby and she couldn't have been happier. The 24-year-old substitute teacher and her husband, Valdeli, were both thrilled to have their first child together.

They lived in Canelinha, Santa Catarina state, southern Brazil, and married in October 2019, with Flavia becoming pregnant shortly after. They had shared many happy photos on social media of themselves cradling her baby bump tenderly and they looked so in love.

Flavia was confident, kind and generous, and everyone thought she would be a great mom. Because she had diabetes, which put her at risk during the Covid pandemic, she stayed home to keep her baby safe.

Then, as her due date approached, Flavia's school friend Rozalba Grimm revealed that she was having a baby shower for her. It seemed particularly thoughtful towards Grimm, as the 28-year-old's social media revealed that she was also heavily pregnant. Posing at six months in a red dress with her husband as they waited for her 'princess' to arrive, she said it was a time when 'anxiety kicks in'.

But Grimm insisted on arranging everything for Flavia's baby shower - all she had to do was show up.

Flavia's school friend Rozalba Grimm revealed that she was having a baby shower for her (

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On August 27, 2020, Flavia went to her party. Her husband imagined his day filled with thoughtful gifts and little touches. But Flavia didn't come back and when he checked, Valdeli could see that his wife hadn't looked at his WhatsApp messages since 3:48 p.m. It was getting late.

When he contacted some of the baby shower guests, they said they were told the party was cancelled. So where was Flavia? A missing person report was filed that night. Grimm later told investigators that when the baby shower was canceled, Flavia "went off with someone else."

The next morning, Flavia's husband and family were desperately looking for the mother-to-be. Had she given birth and did she need help? Did she have an accident?

At 9am, they found themselves in an abandoned pottery warehouse. When they looked inside a large oven, they made a gruesome discovery - Flavia's body. Her stomach had been severed and her baby was missing. Someone had murdered her, cut her open and stolen her unborn child. As the family mourned Flavia, she also desperately wondered if her baby survived the attack.

An autopsy revealed that Flavia had been hit in the head with a brick. Her abdomen had been severed and she had died of a hemorrhage. It had been a brutal death and it was not revealed if Flavia was alive when she was opened for her child.