Pedro de Toledo Mummification Death

In 1994, in the municipality of Pedro de Toledo in São Paulo state, the body of José Marlone de Souza — a 30-year-old man originally from Mombasa who had been living in isolation on a remote farm — was discovered inside a locked wooden hut. His body was found in a state of complete mummification with tissue that appeared burned or desiccated, yet his clothing was entirely undamaged. Investigators noted a triangular burned mark on his shirt at chest height, corresponding to damage on the body beneath. A hen and her chicks found nearby were also burned, covered in a distinctive white soot-like residue, and three calves in the vicinity were found dead. Two dogs on the property suffered third-degree burns and died within three days. There was no smell of fire, no traces of combustible substances, and the door of the hut had been locked from inside. Police initially suspected a lightning strike but ruled it out due to the absence of typical lightning damage patterns. The deceased's hair remained intact, and only the body's water-containing tissue had been destroyed. The body was reportedly exhumed and transferred to the University of Campinas (Unicamp) for forensic analysis, but the university later denied receiving or examining the remains. Civil police in São Paulo confirmed the death remained unexplained. The region around Pedro de Toledo had been experiencing a wave of UFO sightings during 1994. Spanish researcher Pablo Villarrubia Mauso documented the case extensively. The pattern — burned tissue with intact clothing — is strikingly similar to the Prestes Filho death of 1946.