In a jaw-dropping tale straight out of Minas Gerais, Brazil, an elderly man’s quest for hidden treasure beneath his kitchen floor has ended in tragedy. Joao Pimenta da Silva, a 71-year-old with dreams of striking gold, took a fatal plunge down a 130-foot hole he meticulously dug in pursuit of his shiny dreams.

According to gossip buzzing through the neighbourhood, Joao became fixated on the idea that a pot of gold lay beneath his property. The 35-inch-wide, 13-storey deep shaft became his obsession, with tales of him hiring a legion of diggers to unearth the riches he believed were hiding below.

Arnaldo da Silva, a concerned neighbour, spilt the beans, revealing Joao’s escalating expenditures on his treasure hunt. “He began by paying £11.30 a day when the hole was shallow, but the deeper he went, the more the costs skyrocketed,” he shared. It was said that Joao was shelling out around £80 to anyone willing to plunge into the depths and help excavate.

Joao’s golden aspirations took a dark turn when he encountered a massive stone obstacle, sparking rumours of him considering dynamite to blast through. Locals whispered that a ‘spirit’ in Joao’s dream had tipped him off about the gold beneath his kitchen floor.

Arnaldo, trying to be the voice of reason, warned Joao about the dangers of his underground mission. However, the elderly dreamer remained undeterred.

Tragedy struck on January 5, as Joao lost his footing and plummeted to his demise from a wooden platform near the hole’s top. Despite efforts by a friend working alongside him, Joao’s fall proved fatal.

Emergency services later recovered Joao’s lifeless body, revealing head injuries, broken legs, and other fractures. The neighbourhood is now left with the echoes of a golden dream that turned into a heartbreaking nightmare. #GoldenTragedy #TreasureHuntGoneWrong #BrazilianGossipGoldmine