A TRAVELLING circus performer who went missing has been found in Brazil after she was strangled to death.

Julieta Hernandez, 38, worked as a clown dubbed “Miss Bubblegum”, and a nearby couple have been arrested following the shocking discovery.

7

7

7

Hernandez had been travelling through the area by bicycle so she could bring her show to locals and had reportedly lodged with the couple for a night.

She was on a long journey heading home to Venezuela ahead of an emotional reunion with her mum but was reported missing two weeks ago when her friends lost contact with her.

The frame of Julieta’s bicycle and her belongings were found buried near her body in an empty cave.

And a couple who put her up for the night have since been arrested on suspicion of her murder.

Local TV footage showed a man being brought out of the back of a police van in handcuffs and taken into a police station following his arrest.

The artist was last seen in Presidente Figueiredo, a town eighty miles north of the city of Manaus in north west Brazil.

The region, with over 100 waterfalls, is popular with adventure tourists.

Circo di SoLadies, a São Paulo-based circus group, had been publishing regular social media appeals following her disappearance.

Julieta worked as a doll-maker as well as a performing clown.

The alarm was raised when she failed to reach a support point north of the town she vanished in weeks ago.

Julieta had arrived in Brazil by bike in 2016 and was planning to return home the same way.

In an emotional post after her body was found Circo di SoLadies said: “Our great Julieta, our Clown Jujuba carried her dreams on the bike and created smiles all over Brazil.

“She’s gone. She’s been taken away from us. Her vivacity was a victim of femicide and her bike destroyed, as well as our hearts.

“Jujuba, unfortunately we did not find you in time. All this shows us how small we are in the face of such brutality.

“But you, with your giant greatness contained in your nose, taught us that we need to have the courage to keep pedalling.

“All we have is the memory of your smile and your will to live.

“Today, all the clowns in this country dream of you. We dream of a world where women can walk without fear, where children are free to play, where clowns only leave when their noses rest.

“In this world, Jujuba would have crossed through Brazil and managed to find her mum in her homeland.”

Authorities in Amazonas, the north western region of Brazil where she was travelling when she died, released a statement after she was found.

“The Technical-Scientific Police Department (DPTC) is working on confirming the body found is that of Venezuelan Julieta Ines Hernandez Martínez, who had been missing since December 23rd.

“During the searches in the region, the police initially located parts of the bicycle that Julieta Hernández was using, the equipment was nearby where the body was located.

“The location is close to a refuge where the woman was staying.”

It went on to confirm a couple had been arrested and inquiries are continuing.

Police chief Valdinei Silva told local media it was Julieta who had been found dead and she appeared to have been strangled.

It is not known what could have motivated the savage killing.

Julieta is understood to have been part of a group of artists performing under the umbrella of an organisation called Pe Vermei who travelled by bicycle.

She has been reported as performing under Miss Jujuba and Miss Bubblegum.

Friend Ana Melo told local media before she was found dead: “Before she ran out of mobile phone signal, we already knew it would be a challenging journey.

“Julieta is very experienced, she has been cycling around Brazil for years and is now returning to Venezuela.

“What we found strange was the fact that she didn’t warn us that there would be no signal.

“The messages simply stopped arriving and we could no longer locate her.”

7

7

7

7