A busty influencer with hundreds of thousands of online followers has been shot dead in Brazil.

Victim Luanne Murta Jardim dos Santos Martins was killed on a road in Rio de Janeiro on the night of 21st May.

According to reports, criminals opened fire at the car Luanne and her husband, Joao Pedro Farche, were in.

Luanne, who was in the passenger seat, was reportedly hit by a bullet that entered her shoulder and lodged in her heart.

She was taken to Hospital Municipal Salgado Filho but ended up dying from her wounds.

The Homicide Division of the Capital is investigating the case and has said that Luanne may have been killed during an attempted robbery.

But, according to her father, the criminals chased the car, opened fire at it from behind, pulled up alongside Luanne, and opened fire again.

Grieving Atanael Jardim dos Santos said that no robber would open fire at a car that they intended to steal.

Instead, he believes, his daughter was executed.

Atanael told local media: “Surely, this wasn’t a mere theft, a robbery.

“This was a homicide because no one inside a car would steal from another and shoot from inside the car with the window closed.”

On 22nd May, Joao posted a recorded message on one of Luanne’s social media pages thanking her friends and fans for their condolences and messages of support.

The devastated husband revealed that their two-year-old son was also in the car at the time but is doing well.

He said: “I’m not very good at this. I want to thank everyone who’s sending a lot of messages. There are many people who love our family and love us.

“I’m fine, Miguelzinho is fine too. Miguelzinho hurt his face. He has some shrapnel in his face. But he’s fine. He was in the back seat. But that’s it.

“As soon as I have any information, I’ll share it here. Thank you to everyone who’s sending messages. Our family is very loved.”

Luanne – originally from Sao Joao de Meriti – also leaves behind a 10-year-old daughter.

The influencer had two Instagram profiles, one with 575,000 followers and the other with 350,000 followers.

On one, she wrote how she had “lost more than 42 kilogrammes” (93 lb) using weight loss pills.

And on the other, she described herself as a “multipreneur” and wrote “weight loss, overcoming, diary of a former obese person”.

Luanne used her social media pages to post snaps of her life of luxury, replete with high-end cars – such as Porsches, Ferraris, and Lamborghinis – and extravagant trips all over the world.

One photo even shows her standing next to a helicopter.

Formerly overweight and depressed, Luanne would also flog slimming products to her followers and told them how they could achieve a lifestyle like her own.

She recounted in a post from August 2020: “I wasn’t obese, but during my first pregnancy, I gained a lot of weight.

“After the pregnancy, I experienced severe depression and reached 120 kilogrammes (19 stone).”

She recalled: “It was very difficult to take the first step because I couldn’t engage in physical exercises, aerobic activities, nothing.

“And during that phase, I was also in a very toxic relationship. We have no self-esteem and will accept anything.

“Not to mention the insults, because there’s always someone in the family making jokes, and so on. It was a very tough period.”

According to Luanne, she completely transformed herself by taking diet pills, as well as going under the knife five times.

Among the cosmetic ops the influencer had were a tummy tuck and a boob job.

During a trip to the Maldives in November last year, Luanne wrote from her hotel, which reportedly cost more than BRL 80,000 (GBP 13,000): “Today is my birthday, and I took a super Instagrammable photo to post, but those who know me are aware that reality hasn’t always been like this.

“In these 30 years that I complete today, five years were lost to obesity – difficult times, low self-esteem, tears, and compulsions.

“There were days when I simply didn’t want to exist; the reflection I saw in the mirror hurt me. That wasn’t me.

“No social media, no photos? I wouldn’t take them; I would cry and hide. It hurt to see people’s reactions on the street, to not fit into any clothes.”

According to Luanne herself, she earned around BRL 5 million (GBP 812,000) in less than a year from selling products on one platform alone.