A Brazilian family is facing an agonizing and prolonged bureaucratic ordeal as they wait for the return of a loved one's remains from Argentina. Pollyana Backes, a widow from the state of Paraná, has been seeking the repatriation of her husband, Antônio Marcos Backes, for almost nine months. The 36-year-old civil engineer was found dead in a wooded area of Bernardo de Irigoyen, an Argentine town bordering Barracão, Brazil, in August 2025. His death is being investigated as a homicide, and no arrests have been made.
The family's struggle highlights the complex and often slow process of international body repatriation. After Antônio's disappearance and subsequent discovery, his body was transported over 300 kilometers to Posadas for a DNA examination. The results, which confirmed his identity, were not communicated to the family until February 2026. Despite completing all requested paperwork and hiring legal assistance, Pollyana reports receiving no concrete timeline for the release. "They always say it could be next week, and almost nine months have passed," she stated, expressing the family's desperation to bring him home for a proper farewell.
The impact on the Backes family has been profound. Antônio was the primary breadwinner for his wife and their three children, aged 5, 12, and 15. His death has forced Pollyana to enter the workforce, drastically altering the family's daily life. The emotional toll is particularly heavy on the youngest child, who does not fully comprehend his father's death. "We can't even hold a tribute, a wake, a goodbye," Pollyana shared. "My little one asks for his father every day. We tell him a story to help him understand, saying his dad went on a trip to heaven and became a little star."
This situation is not an isolated incident in the border region. Another family in Dionísio Cerqueira, Santa Catarina, is experiencing a similar three-month delay in retrieving the body of 71-year-old Antônio Batista Soares. His body was also found in Bernardo de Irigoyen after he went missing in December 2025. Local police in Brazil are awaiting information from Argentina to proceed with their investigation, and the family has not been called for a DNA test, relying only on clothing for identification.
Authorities on both sides of the border point to the judicial process as the source of the delay. The Argentine police chief in Bernardo de Irigoyen confirmed the case is in a judicial phase that has surpassed police instances, and that such processes inherently take time. The Brazilian consulate in Puerto Iguazú explained that the release of a body requires local judicial authorization, a process that varies in duration. For non-criminal cases, repatriation can occur within 10 days, but homicide investigations involve more extensive legal reviews.
The standard procedure for repatriation, as outlined by the Brazilian Consulate in Buenos Aires, begins with a family-initiated request for judicial release in the country of death. Once a judge authorizes the release after reviewing the case and cause of death, the family must engage a local funeral home to manage the logistics and legalities of the transfer. The consulate can provide a list of experienced firms and issue a Brazilian death certificate, but it does not assume responsibility for the private companies' actions. The Itamaraty, Brazil's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, did not respond to inquiries regarding either case.
Based on reporting from g1.