Eight days ago John Gurjao posted photos on his Facebook page apparently from Macapá, the regional capital of the province in northern Brazil where he grew up, writes RTÉ’s Emma O Kelly.
In the photos he is smiling and making the peace sign. "There is no better place" he wrote. "My home, Macapá".
Seven days later, the 24-year-old was dead.
He died suddenly and in great distress on board Aer Lingus flight EI485, bound for Dublin from Lisbon.
A number of packages were recovered from his body, believed to contain cocaine.
RTÉ News understands that at least one of them had ruptured.
John Gurjao grew up in Calcoene, almost 400km from Macapá, an extremely poor region. His aunt spoke to Brazilian media on Monday.
She told them that he had left Calcoene a year ago. "He left in order to survive. It was a matter of life itself", Lourdes Gurjao told Globo.com. "He lost his parents when he was young. He went looking for work."
Lourdes Gurjao says the family had no idea that he had left Brazil. "This was a big shock," she says. "We could never have imagined that he would travel so far away."
RTÉ News has established that John Gurjao visited Dublin in July.
While in Ireland he was with the woman believed to have been travelling with him on the flight on which he died. That woman was arrested but has since been released.
One photo posted on Facebook during John Gurjao's visit to Ireland in July show the two together, in the woman's house and garden.
John Gurjao writes on his Facebook page: "Feeling blissful with ___ _____, everything is good in her home."
In another photo, this time posted on the woman's Facebook page, John Gurjao poses smiling, in the garden, with a plateful of freshly barbequed chicken.
She comments in Portuguese "Look at the beautiful chef that I've found!!"
Later she adds: "Any singletons around? I've a friend who's available!! ha ha ha." John Gurjao responds with a smiley face.
There are lots of smiley faces on his Facebook pages; smiley faces and laughter symbols.
From those pages a picture emerges of a handsome and style-conscious young man who enjoyed playing with his image.
He strikes poses in many of the numerous photos of himself that he posts. In some photos his nails are long and perfectly painted, and he wears jewellery. 
He jokes with Facebook friends who compliment him on the photos.
Few people in the Brazilian community in Dublin appear to have met or known John Gurjao. However, RTÉ News has spoken to some who met him briefly while he was in Dublin in July.
They say he was with the woman who was on the flight with him. They say he came across as “a good person”.
On the plane John Gurjao had a letter stating that he was about to begin to study at an English language school in Dublin city centre. As a non-EU citizen this letter would have enabled him to acquire a visa necessary to stay here.
But John Gurjao is dead now.
This afternoon on another Facebook page, a woman who shares John Gurjao's surname, posted another photo of him. Her caption reads; "I love you so much, no matter what people will say, you will always be in my heart. Rest in peace."
