Former Brazilian Olympic runner Daniel Nascimento has been missing for over a month, according to a plea for help from his mother, Valdirene Paula Ferreira.
“Does anyone have any info on my son?” Ferreira wrote in Spanish via Instagram on Monday, July 27, alongside a photo of him. “His name is Daniel Nascimento. Better known [by the nickname] Armero. He was a marathon runner (he presents psychological issues).”
Ferreira explained that her son was last seen on June 19 at around 7 p.m. in Paraguacu Paulista, a town in southwest São Paulo. He was carrying a black backpack with him and does not have a mobile phone, according to a statement given by a family member to CNN Brasil.
Ferreira also told Brazilian newspaper Métropoles that police were looking into a report that her son was seen in Assis, about 22 miles away, asking for water and telling a bystander he “still had a long way to walk.”
Despite him being missing for more than a month, Nascimento’s family did not formally report him missing until Monday, July 27, the night before his 28th birthday, according to the New York Post.
Nascimento is in the midst of a five-year ban from Olympic competition after testing positive for three different steroids just a month before the 2024 Paris Olympics. The suspension forced him out of those Games and will prevent him from competing in Los Angeles in 2028.
Nascimento participated in the delayed 2020 Tokyo Summer Games, finishing third in the marathon with a time of 2:04:51. That same year, he led the New York City marathon for more than 20 miles before collapsing due to exhaustion.
Amid Nascimento’s disappearance, the Brazilian Athletics Confederation released a statement pleading for the athletics community to unite in finding him.
“The Brazilian Athletics Confederation (CBAt) is calling for the mobilization of the athletics community in the search for athlete Daniel do Nascimento, the long-distance runner Danielzinho, who has been missing for almost 40 days, since June 19th,” the statement read, in part.
Ferreira also spoke to The Sun, where she said that Nascimento had been struggling mentally since his ban.
“I would go to work and he would come with me. He was always a good boy,” she told the outlet. “Sometimes I used to take him out for a run. He would do some training sessions in secret in the middle of the sugarcane fields. I think he really missed the routine of being an athlete.”
She added, “A thousand things go through your mind as a mother. I think I’ve lost about 10 kilos. Daniel’s siblings are also very worried. We just want him to show up.”
