But the family of the 22-year-old musician, who vanished over two weeks ago have challenged investigators version of events.

Relatives argue since no one saw him fall into the water and a body has not been found the findings are premature.  

They said the hip-hop artist, who went by the name Kenny Vulcan, didn’t have mental health problems, had everything to live for.

In an exclusive interview with the Sun Online, the missing Londoner’s father, Ken, who flew out to Rio on April 18 to help in the search for his son said the family believe Kenny is still alive.

But the dad believes his son may have decided “for whatever reason he doesn’t want to be found for now”.


Speaking at a press conference last night, Chief of Rio's missing person's department Ellen Souto said: “We are working on the hypothesis that Kenny threw himself into the sea off rocks at Mirante da Roncador on Friday 13.

“This was after leaving an amateur recording studio, run by friends, where he worked overnight on new tracks.”

According to the police chief, agents reached their conclusion after quizzing Kenny’s family and friends.

They also were involved in a massive manhunt involving seven days of sea searches by lifeguards and helicopter.

She continued: “CCTV shows Kenny took an Uber around 1.46pm on Friday from Barra Sul to this location off Prainha beach.

“A bank transaction on his account confirmed the journey.

“He was last seen by the driver walking down a path that heads to the rocks high above the sea.”

The possibility of an assault was ruled out after the musician’s backpack containing his laptop, passport, bank cards, wallet, pen drives and headphones were found by surfers on the sea shore and handed into police.

The personal possessions washed up more than eight miles from Mirante da Roncador the day after the Brit went missing.

According to cops, Kenny who arrived in Brazil on December 4, was running away from personal problems in London because he had a history of depression and hoped to make a fresh start in Rio.

In an emotional interview a devastated Mr Mukendi rejected the claims.

He said: “We are deeply disappointed with the outcome of the Brazilian police’s investigation.

“They made the press announcement without our consent and we believe they have reached a conclusion based on inaccurate and misleading information.

“We also believe they should have looked more in land and not concentrated their search only on the sea.

“And we believe more research needs to be done into why his bag was found so far away.

“Until the age of 22, Kenny was the perfect child.

“He has given us no problems until now. He has never suffered from depression and he never mentioned taking his life."



It was Kenny’s second visit to Brazil.

During his first visit in 2016 he made strong friendships with other rappers in the country and in January featured in MC Tony Mariano’s music video – Pocahontas.

The eldest of three brothers, Kenny lived with his family in Woolwich, South East London. Mum Beatrice owns a children’s nursery.

They made the press announcement without our consent and we believe they have reached a conclusion based on inaccurate and misleading information

His girlfriend Renata Lima, 20, a tattoo artist and performing arts student, was the last to speak to him and the first person to notice his profiles had been shut down.

She alerted police on April 14 after failing to contact him and discovering none of his friends had heard from him.

Also speaking exclusively to the Sun Online, Ms Lima, who started dating the Brit in January, said: “I spoke to Kenny on WhatsApp on the day he disappeared.

“He was his usual self, happy and positive.

"He never ever showed me that he had any suicidal thoughts.”

She disagreed with detectives’ claims her boyfriend was suffering from cash problems and this may have contributed to his mental “instability”.


If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article, please call the Samaritans on (free) 116123 or 020 7734 2800. 


 

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