She believed the pain couldn’t deepen. That every memory had been uncovered, every word spoken. But then, in the most unexpected place — an old jacket Diogo hadn’t worn in years — Rute Cardoso found a letter. Torn, faded, and dated just three days before the crash that took her husband’s life.

It wasn’t a full page. It wasn’t even signed.

Just five trembling words, scrawled in ink, barely legible… but undeniable:

“They won’t let me leave.”

The letter had no explanation. No context. Yet it landed like a punch to the chest. Rute, already shattered by the recent police confirmation that Jota’s death was no accident, reportedly collapsed to the floor upon reading it.

Close family sources say she had been sorting through Diogo’s old clothes to prepare a memorial box when she noticed something odd stitched inside the inner lining. The paper, worn with age and weather, looked like it had been folded in haste and hidden in desperation.

This new discovery raises even more chilling questions about what Jota knew — and feared — in the days leading up to the fatal crash. Was this letter meant as a warning? A farewell? A last cry for help?

Police investigators are now examining the letter as part of the ongoing criminal probe, and handwriting analysis is reportedly underway. But for Rute, one truth is already clear:

“He knew,” she whispered to a friend. “He tried to tell someone… and now he’s gone.”

As tributes to the late Liverpool star continue to pour in, the mystery surrounding his final days only deepens — and with it, the heartbreak of a family still searching for answers.