July 4 (Bloomberg) -- The body of a Brazilian priest who tried to break a record for flying suspended by helium balloons was found in the Atlantic Ocean near Rio de Janeiro more than two months after he disappeared.

The remains of Adelir Antonio de Capri were recovered by the Anna Gabriela, an ocean-going oil-rig tugboat operated by Petroleo Brasileiro SA, Brazil's state-controlled oil company, press officials at Petrobras, as the company is known, said in a statement read over the telephone. De Capri, 41, was found in seas near Marica, a city in the country's state of Rio de Janeiro.

He went missing on April 20 after taking off from Paranagua, a port city near Curitiba, the capital of Parana state in Brazil's south. His plan was to fly inland to Dourados, more than 450 miles northwest in Mato Grosso do Sul state. The motive for his trip was to raise money for spiritual rest stop for truckers in Paranagua and break a 19-hour record for flight using helium balloons.

After rising as high as 20,000 feet soon after takeoff, he was blown backward out to sea where pieces of some of the dozens of balloons he used to lift himself into the air were later found, police said at the time.

After he called for help from port authorities in Paranagua, a search was launched but he was never heard from again. His body was found about 700 kilometers (435 miles) northeast of where he went missing.

His remains, dressed in his blue and white jumpsuit, have been taken to the medical examiners office in Macae, a port city that serves as Petrobras' main operations base for the Campos Basin, the source of about 80 percent of Brazil's oil output, Petrobras said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jeb Blount in Rio de Janeiro at jblount@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: July 4, 2008 16:59 EDT