Authorities remain baffled by the bizarre disappearance of an occult-obsessed young man in Brazil last month, as strange new details concerning the case have emerged.
Bruno Borges vanished from the Brazilian town of Rio Branco on March 27th and his story soon generated worldwide headlines when a jaw-dropping video of his bedroom was revealed.
With the walls covered in cryptic writing, a giant statue of philosopher Giordano Bruno, and fourteen coded books left behind, Borges' bedroom and subsequent disappearance has captivated online sleuths since early this month.
Since that time, a handful of insights into the young man's remarkable and mystifying 'research' have begun to come to light.
Thales Vasconcelos, a childhood friend of Borges, told Brazilian media outlet Globo that he helped to encrypt one of the mysterious texts later found in the room.
According to him, Borges had developed the code and enlisted his friend to transcribe the books from Portuguese into a secret cipher.
Based on what he had read of the text, Vasconcelos recalled that Borges pondered questions such as what is the meaning of life and discussed how he had been given a 'mission' to write the books.
However his friend either did not share or does not know who or what exactly tasked Borges with this perceived mission as that key detail remains a mystery at this time.
It would appear that Vasconcelos is not the only person affiliated with Borges' work, but authorities have concluded that his other helpers have taken a vow of secrecy and, thus, have been no help to police.
Other odd details surrounding the case have also been reported by Brazilian media, including audio purportedly of Borges claiming that he could travel via astral projection.
Vasconcelos confirmed that Borges held such beliefs, telling Globo that "he said that he could project himself when he felt the need."
Investigators have managed to track down the answer to one mystery of the case when they located the artist responsible for the statue in Borges' room.
Yet even that lead turned out to be as odd as the rest of the story as the creator of the statue, Jorge Rivasplata, expressed the opinion that Borges was actually the reincarnation of the famed philosopher.
For now, authorities have called on Interpol for help in trying to locate the young man who they believe is still alive somewhere in Brazil, but could be in some kind of distress.
Meanwhile, thousands of fascinated followers of the case have taken to Facebook in an attempt to decipher Borges' works via a crowd-sourced effort.
Whether their code breaking attempts prove successful remains to be seen, but one almost suspects that the incredible amount of attention given to Borges' writings may be part of the reason why the young man disappeared.
What's your theory on the disappearance of Bruno Borges? Let us know at the Coast to Coast AM Facebook page.
Source: Globo (via Google Translate)