A 37-year-old woman in Brazil spent 14 months convincing a family she was a 12-year-old girl in need of adoption. She drank from a baby bottle. She used a pacifier. She faked night terrors. She also had over 200 metal needles inside her body, but we’ll get to that.
Amanda Maria Souza de Oliveira allegedly launched the scheme by approaching a pastor at a church in Joinville, in the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina, and presenting herself as a runaway named Gabriela, a child from an abusive home in Pará. The pastor’s congregation took her in financially and referred her to a local family, who took her the rest of the way.
According to the Mirror, the couple paid for her medications, including Mounjaro (the type 2 diabetes medication for adults), threw her a 12th birthday party, and were actively planning to legally adopt her.
A Woman Allegedly Pretended to Be a 12-Year-Old Girl for More Than a Year. Her New Family Almost Adopted Her.
For anyone wondering how a 37-year-old pulled this off with a family who could see her face: Amanda had an answer for that, too. She claimed forced hormone treatments in childhood had altered her appearance and that years of abuse from her father had aged her prematurely. The family believed her. The people around them did not, and eventually a relative went looking online, found eerily similar cases, and called the police.
After some digging, it was found that this wasn’t her first run at it. Investigators connected Amanda to nearly identical cons across at least seven Brazilian states, including São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Minas Gerais, each time presenting herself as a child who had fled abuse, trafficking, or a family involved in the occult.
A volunteer in Rio de Janeiro told local media that Amanda had contacted her through social media in 2023. “She said her father had forced her into prostitution and that he was involved in witchcraft rituals,” the volunteer said, adding that when Amanda eventually arrived, “she seemed like an obese autistic teenager and spoke like a child.”
That same volunteer later arranged medical imaging after needles began surfacing through Amanda’s skin. According to the Mirror, the doctor said he had never seen anything like it in his career. Imaging revealed more than 200 needles inside her body—which, per investigators, she had inserted herself to make the abuse claims more convincing.
Amanda reportedly confessed during interrogation and was charged with fraud and identity theft before being transferred to Joinville Women’s Prison. A judge also granted the defense’s request for a psychiatric evaluation. Her attorney has suggested she may not be fully responsible for her actions.
She had been previously convicted of false identity offenses in Goiás. She had not yet served that sentence.
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