They left home praying for a cure. Minutes later, they were gone. On a quiet Sunday morning, a young couple and their 3-year-old son never made it to the hospital. Their car plunged into a hidden stream off the CE-060, turning hope into horror. Questions now haunt the highway, and a grieving town dema The crash that killed Hérida Nascimento da Silva, Sebastião Cícero Gomes, and little Miguel shattered far more than a vehicle; it tore a hole in the heart of Várzea Alegre. They were not heading to a party or a trip, but to a hospital in Juazeiro do Norte, clinging to the fragile promise of a surgical procedure that might help their son. Instead, a 5-meter drop into a stream near Sítio Piripiri ended three lives in seconds.

As investigators search for answers about what went wrong on that stretch of the CE-060, neighbors and relatives are left with only silence and memories. Their grief has turned into a plea: for safer roads, clearer signage, and real accountability. In the candles, tears, and whispered prayers, one question echoes over and over—how many more families must be broken before anything truly changes?