This national bodybuilding champion and father of a teenage son has been found dead after apparently being electrocuted inside his home.

Athlete Ricardo Nunes Costa was found dead with an electrical cable in his hands in his home in the city of Santana in the northern Brazilian state of Amapa on Sunday, 1st August.

According to the police, a family member found the bodybuilding champion’s lifeless body.

His family does not believe that he was electrocuted, however, saying it is more probable that he suffered a cardiac arrest.

The victim’s sister, Sulivane Nunes, told UOL: “It was a cardiac arrest because it is a hereditary problem in the family. My mother has problems with blood pressure, as do Ricardo, another brother and I.”

Both lines of investigation are being considered by the police and, at the time of reporting, Ricardo’s body was undergoing a post-mortem examination to ascertain the true cause of death.

Ricardo was a successful semi-professional bodybuilder and he regularly won competitions throughout the North Region of Brazil.

His high point was winning the Brazilian Bodybuilding and Fitness Championship in the under-65-kilogramme (10.2-stone) senior category in 2018.

In addition to his athletic prowess, he had worked as a nurse technician at his local public hospital for 21 years. He was also a journalism graduate and had studied physical education.

Sulivane commented: “He was a good son, brother, husband and father. As an older brother, he always had the responsibility of taking care of his other siblings.”

Ricardo leaves behind a wife and a 14-year-old son. He was buried on the same morning he was found dead, in the Santana Municipal Cemetery.