BRICKLAYER SOLD EVERYTHING TO MEET A WOMAN WHO WAS AI

Edimar Rocha Martins, a 49-year-old bricklayer from Imperatriz in Brazil’s Maranhão state, sold everything he owned and rode a bus more than 1,200 miles to Belo Horizonte to meet and marry a TikTok farm owner named Jéssica Oliveira, who turned out to be an AI-generated woman. The person running her account later said the whole thing was meant to gain engagement for sales, according to Roya News.

Martins told local broadcaster TV Mirante that he first came across the account in 2020. The persona, also known as Jéssica Fazendeira, had about 300,000 followers on TikTok under the handle @JessicaFazendeira. Her videos showed a woman on a farm who wanted a man to move in with her, and she promised to support him financially.

“I really want to support you, I want you to come to my farm and never work again in your life,” the character said in one clip, the New York Post reported.

Martins never suspected she wasn’t real. He told IBTimes UK he had been in touch with “Jéssica” through Kwai and Facebook, though the account’s operator later denied any direct contact.

On October 9, 2026, he sold his belongings to pay for the trip. “I sold all my things, I got rid of everything,” he said.

He reached Belo Horizonte, the capital of Minas Gerais, on October 11, 2026, and could not find her. He went to a radio station, which IBTimes UK identified as Rádio Itatiaia, looking for answers.

“I went to the radio station there, and they said no, that’s fake news, that woman doesn’t exist,” Martins said.

His money eventually ran out. He went to Belo Horizonte City Hall, where he told a social worker he had come so far for love because he was tired of being lonely. The social worker helped him get home, and he has been staying with a family member.

“That’s how you get discouraged, who wouldn’t get discouraged?” he said. Of the loneliness behind the trip, he added: “It only brings sadness, discouragement, depression. Many people wanted to find a relationship, so I came.”

He was not ready to quit looking. “I didn’t find her, but I’ll find another one, and it will be in the same place I went, and I’ll go again,” Martins said.

On October 14, 2026, the account posted a video in which the persona addressed the commotion directly, a deeply strange thing for a character who does not exist to do.

“I came here to state the obvious: I am made of artificial intelligence.”

“I have never spoken to anyone with this profile. The intention was to gain engagement for sale,” the persona said. “I never spoke directly to anyone, much less took anyone to Belo Horizonte. It was a surprise to me to see what is happening.”

The video had been deleted by the time the Post reported on the story.

Martins’ story took a lighter turn a week later. On October 21, 2026, Mix Vale reported that he had adopted a cat named Jéssica in Imperatriz and appeared in a Petlove advertising campaign. He had also gathered more than 6,000 followers on social media.