Edimar Martins, a 49-year-old Brazilian bricklayer, sold his personal belongings to travel nearly 2,000 km to meet a woman he intended to marry. Martins first encountered a social media account under the name Jéssica Oliveira in 2020.
On 9 October, the man sold his possessions to fund a bus journey from Maranhão state to Belo Horizonte. Belo Horizonte was the destination where Martins arrived on 11 October.
The AI persona, also known as Jessica Fazendeira, maintained a TikTok account with approximately 300,000 followers. In a video that has since been deleted, the character offered financial support to a man who would join her on a farm.
Martins discovered the woman was an AI-generated character after visiting a local radio station. "I went to the radio station there, and they said no, that’s fake news, that woman doesn’t exist," Martins said.
After running out of money, Martins approached the Belo Horizonte City Hall. A social worker at the city hall provided Martins with assistance to return home.
The individual managing the account acknowledged that the character was AI-generated but denied having any direct contact with Martins.
