Juliana Marins, before her tragic fall. Photo: Instagram
The family of a Brazilian hiker who passed away after falling down the slopes of an Indonesian volcano is searching for answers. Uncertainty still lingers as to how she passed and why the rescue took so long.
Juliana Marins, a 26-year-old from Niterói, Brazil, fell off the edge of a trail on Mount Rinjani in Lombok, Indonesia, on June 21. After video evidence showed she had survived the initial fall, rescue crews didn’t reach her until four days later, June 25, when she was discovered deceased.
In an Instagram account created by the family that quickly gained a massive following of 1.6 million, the family accused the government rescue efforts of negligence.
“If the team had reached her within the estimated period of seven hours, Juliana would still be alive,” says a post on the account. “Now we are going after justice for her because it’s what she deserves.”
The initial autopsy conducted in Indonesia on June 27, two days after the recovery of the body, indicated that the cause of death was trauma from a fall. The autopsy cited bone fractures, damage to internal organs, and internal bleeding, leading the coroner to believe that death occurred about 20 minutes after the trauma. While she had injuries on nearly her entire body, the coroner noted that damage to the abdomen that affected the respiratory system was the most severe. They ruled out hypothermia or dehydration as potential causes of death.
It remains unclear which fall ultimately led to Marins’ death. Drone footage captured on the same day of the initial fall showed Marins sitting on the slope roughly 300 meters below the trail, alive and moving. According to local authorities, foggy weather conditions and the steep terrain delayed efforts to reach her, and when rescue crews successfully reached the location, she was no longer there. The body was eventually recovered four days later in a ravine 600 meters below the trail, which indicated that she had fallen again from the original resting place.
According to the Indonesian coroner, the time of death likely occurred between 1 a.m. and 1 p.m. on June 25, just hours before the body was recovered that same afternoon. Globo’s coverage of the incident highlights discrepancies in the timeline presented by the rescue team and the coroner.
Marins’ body arrived in Brazil on Wednesday, July 2. The family has requested that the body undergo a second autopsy in hopes that it can shed light on the date and time of death, as well as any information omitted by the Indonesian authorities.
Meanwhile, police in East Lombok are investigating the series of events. Police divulged that they are interviewing four key witnesses: a trekking organizer, a local guide, a porter, and a forestry police officer.
“We began examining witnesses two days after the incident and continue to deepen our investigation,” said I Made Dharma Yulia Putra, the East Lombok Police Criminal Investigation Unit Chief.
Marins’ guide, Ali Musthofa, has given his account of the incident and denies any negligence. Musthofa said he instructed Marins to rest on the trail before leaving her for no more than “three minutes.” When he returned, she wasn’t there. Musthofa says he immediately realized that she had fallen when he saw the light of a flashlight down the slope and could hear Marins’ voice screaming for help.
Juliana’s father, Manoel Marins, publicly blamed the guide for her death, alleging that he took a smoke break and left her alone for 40 to 50 minutes. He also placed responsibility on the park coordinator, accusing them of lacking proper rescue equipment and of a delayed response.
In the latest updates on the Marins family’s Instagram account, they thanked those involved in the rescue operations and provided updates on the transfer of the body, hoping to gain more insight into the cause of death after the second autopsy in Brazil.
