The missing wife spent a week with her husband’s body on a boat after he suffered a heart attack while fishing

A woman who has been missing for a week has been found on their boat with her husband’s body after he died of a suspected heart attack.

Maria das Graças Mota Bernardo and José Nilson de Souza Bernardo, both 68, set out on March 28 for a fishing trip.

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The couple had planned to return two days later, but a search was launched when they failed to get home on time.

They took two ships along an Amazon river called the Rio Negro in the heart of Brazil.

They had a fishing boat and a smaller canoe to explore the flooded Amazon forests.

Concerned family members alerted authorities when they discovered the couple’s canoe tied to a tree without them being in sight.

Rotting fish were found inside the canoe, and a net was still stretched out in the water to catch fish.

The civilian police, the navy and the local fire brigade then initiated an extensive search operation.

On April 4, the Brazilian Navy found the couple’s ship adrift in Iranduba, about 100 miles (161 km) from their point of departure.

Maria was forced to spend several days next to the corpse of her beloved husband after he apparently suffered a heart attack while fishing.

A Navy helicopter rescued Maria from the scene and officers provided first aid and assistance to the grieving woman.

She was then flown to Manaus for medical checks while firefighters transported her husband’s body to a hospital morgue.

Authorities will perform an autopsy on the body to determine the exact cause of death.

The Navy confirmed an investigation was underway into the tragic end of a fishing trip.

Earlier this year, a woman drowned in a fishing boat tragedy off the coast of Brazil just hours after posting cheerful videos of her expedition.

Michele Bayerl de Moraes de Sena posed for a selfie video at sea before a severe storm hit the ship she was on.

Tragically, the boat capsized and she died along with her husband, Evandro Jose de Sena.

The six survivors reportedly escaped death by clinging to the hull after the boat capsized.

They were picked up by a passing ship and given first aid.

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