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Who Is Jorge Sestini? New Details On Model Caroline Bittencourt's Husband And How He's Been Charged In Her Death

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Who Is Jorge Sestini? New Details On Model Caroline Bittencourt's Husband And How He's Been Charged In Her Death

Fans of Brazilian model Caroline Bittencourt have been mourning her unexpected death by drowning in late April. The 37-year-old model was swept off the deck of a small boat and drowned, despite her husband’s attempt to save her. Now, in an unexpected twist her husband will be charged with manslaughter in connection with her death. Jorge Sestini, whom Bittencourt married in January, allegedly took the boat out despite warnings from the marina owner, who told the couple that the weather was likely to turn dangerous. When the expected storm blew in, the marina owner tried again to contact Sestini but by then both he and Bittencourt were overboard. Sestini was later rescued by another boat in the area. Who is Jorge Sestini?

What happened that day on the water, and why is Sestini facing arrest? Read on for all the details.

1. The wreck

Shortly after Bittencourt’s death, The Sun reported that the drowning had been an accident at sea, caused by rough weather. “Jorge [Sestini] said he was with his wife in Ilhabela at around 4.30 p.m. and decided to sail towards São Sebastião when they were surprised by strong gale-force winds that hit the coast,” Captain of São Sebastião Port Authority Wagner Goulart de Souza told The Sun. He explained further that “Jorge said his wife was swept out to sea after winds of more than 100kmh [62 mph] hit the boat (a 16.5 foot-long catamaran). It appears that due to the force of the winds and the high seas, Caroline was thrown into the sea.” At the time, some news outlets were reporting that Bittencourt had jumped into the water in order to save her dogs who had been washed overboard but authorities denied that claim. De Souza said “We have no information that she jumped in to rescue her dogs.”

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Caroline Bittencourt (@cabitten) on Feb 12, 2019 at 3:43pm PST

Bittencourt loved her dogs.

2. Family in mourning

Bittencourt’s father went on Brazilian TV to share his grief and while doing that alluded to the sense of loss Sestini was feeling from not being able to save his wife. The Sun reported that Orley Bittencourt said, “Jorge told me a wave hit the sides of the boat and the strength of that and strong winds unbalanced Carol and she fell into the water. Jorge jumped in to help her. He wasn’t able to throw a float or anything towards her because the distance between them was great and because the currents took her quickly.” The elder Bittencourt went on to say “He could see Carol and she tried to swim to the boat. He begged her to remain calm because he was coming to get her. But he could see her disappearing under the water and he couldn’t reach her as the storm separated them. He searched for my daughter for more than three hours and lost sight of the boat.”

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Caroline Bittencourt (@cabitten) on Feb 26, 2019 at 1:27pm PST

Bittencourt and Sestini were recently married.

RELATED:   Who Is Caroline Bittencourt? New Details On The Model Who Drowned While Trying To Save Her Dogs

3. Not alone in the water

There were other people boating in the same area and one of those sailors was able to rescue Sestini from the angry ocean. Roberto Tenóriotold reporters: “I started looking and saw a hand waving, calling for help. I got close, got him and I put him in my boat. He was very nervous and in a state of shock. He had spent (many) hours adrift looking for his wife and he kept on insisting that he needed to find her. He was in a panic and tired. I carried out a search before returning to the Yacht Club, but we were unable to find her. Jorge told me that they were alone on the boat. I’ve seen media reports that Caroline jumped in the sea to save the dog, but this was not what he told me. It's very sad, a tragedy.”

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Caroline Bittencourt (@cabitten) on Mar 7, 2019 at 3:28pm PST

The couple lived in Brazil.

4. Warnings

But despite not being the only boat in the water, it seems that Sestini was negligent for being out that day. People reports that investigators have learned that the marina owner Leonardo Oliveira gave Sestini multiple warnings about the dangerous sailing conditions that day. Authorities investigating the accident have determined that going out despite the warning constitutes negligence. Lead investigator/Delegate Vanderley Pagliarini wrote in court documents: "Knowing the bad weather that was raging at that moment, the region, especially for those who were onboard small boats, expressly warned in this regard, decided to launch into the sea, not providing at least that the victim wore a life jacket as he himself was concerned, indisputable negligence that refers to the basis of wrongful crimes.”

Sestini was warned not to sail.

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5. Next steps

At this time, Sestini is not under arrest. Authorities in Sao Paolo have issued the indictment and are waiting for him to come to the police station in order to proceed. If convicted, Sestini faces one to three years in prison.

Sestini is under indictment for manslaughter.

Rebekah Kuschmider has been writing about celebrities, pop culture, entertainment, and politics since 2010. Her work has been seen at Ravishly, Babble, Scary Mommy, The Mid, Redbook online, and The Broad Side. She is the creator of the blog Stay at Home Pundit and she is a cohost of the weekly podcast The More Perfect Union.