A Brazilian priest tied himself to 1000 helium balloons and disappeared for months until his body was found in the Atlantic Ocean.

Carli, an experienced skydiver, undertook the exercise in order to raise money to fund a spiritual rest area for truck drivers in the Paraná port city of Paranaguá.

De Carli's goal for the cluster ballooning exercise was to break the 19-hour flight record and claim a new world record. His first attempt was on 13 January 2008, during which de Carli successfully completed a four-hour flight from Ampére, Paraná, Brazil, to San Antonio, Misiones, Argentina over a total distance of 25 kilometres (16 mi). Using 600 balloons, de Carli reportedly reached heights of 5,300 metres (17,400 ft).

On April 20, 2008, after taking off in a chair attached to 1,000 balloons, Carli reached an altitude of 6,000 metres (19,700 ft) before losing contact with authorities.

On April 20, the priest's last contact with the military police occurred during the night, when he was about 16 miles from the islands of Tamboretes, off the coast of São Francisco do Sul, Santa Catarina, Brazil. The priest called from his cell phone to request help determining his coordinates and to ask them to contact the authorities.

On July 4, 2008, the lower half of a human body was found floating on the ocean surface by an offshore oil rig support vessel about 100 km (62 mi) from Macaé. After the remains were initially identified from the clothing as those belonging to Carli, DNA tests confirmed they were his on July 29, 2008 after a comparison was made with DNA samples from Carli's brother.

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