A wealthy man cleared of murdering an eight-year-old girl in a notorious case still unsolved 50 years later has been found beheaded and burned on a rural property.

The grim discovery was made in Guarapari, in the state of Espirito Santo, Brazil, where the victim was identified by a brother as Dante de Brito Michelini, 76, on Tuesday, 3rd February.

Police said Michelini’s body was found inside a burned structure on his smallholding after a witness became alarmed by his sudden absence and visible signs of destruction at the site.

The corpse had been decapitated and the head is currently missing.

Araceli Cabrera Crespo poses in undated photo. She was raped and murdered in Vitoria, Brazil in May 1973. Note: Private photo. (Newsflash)

A family member recognised the body based on clothing and physical characteristics, but Espirito Santo Civil Police said the victim’s identity will only be formally confirmed after DNA testing is completed.

Investigators are treating the case as a homicide, with the cause and circumstances of death still under investigation.

Michelini was one of the men accused in the notorious 1973 killing of schoolgirl Araceli Cabrera Crespo, who disappeared in Vitoria and was later found dead.

Picture shows Dante Brito Michelini known as Dantinho, undated. He was one of the main suspects. Note: Image is a screenshot from video. (Newsflash)

Michelini was from an influential family in Espirito Santo in the early 1970s and even had a major avenue named after his grandfather when he was charged with the rape and murder of Araceli.

He was convicted in 1980 alongside his father and another suspect, but the verdict was overturned, and following a retrial they were acquitted due to lack of evidence.

The case was eventually archived with no one held responsible. No other suspects were ever accused.

(Aloysius Fernandes /Newsflash)