Brazil: One of the two men arrested for the disappearance of a British journalist and a native expert at Amazon Brazil who claimed to have bury the couple in the forest, Federal police said Wednesday after a human corpse was found.
Dom Phillips and his guide Bruno Pereira were missing June 5 in the Amazon remote section full of environmental crimes including illegal mining, fishing and logging, and drug trading.
The police did not determine whether the suspect, Amarildo da Costa de Oliveira, also claimed to kill the couple, only by saying that he claimed to have participated in the episode and “Tells in detail the crimes committed and show the place where he bury the body.”
Eduardo Alexandre Fontes, Federal Police Chief in the Amazonas Brazilian state, said that during the Manus Press Conference, the largest city in Amazon, that the location where the corpses were found “very difficult to reach.”
The excavation has been carried out at the location. The excavation will continue, but human remains have been found,” he said.
Once we can verify with the help of expertise that indeed the remnants of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira, they will be returned to the family.”
Earlier on that day, Oliveira was taken by the police to the search site along the Itaquai River, the media report said.
The wife of Phillips Brazil, Alessandra Up, in a statement Wednesday thanked “all teams that conducted a search, especially native volunteers,” the absence of a press conference was criticized by several observers.
Although we are still waiting for the final confirmation, this tragic final ended sadness because he did not know where Dom and Bruno were,” he said.
Today we also start our struggle for justice … we will only have peace when the steps needed are taken to ensure that such tragedies do not happen again.”
Another suspect, a man who was reported was Oliveira’s brother, Oosey Da Costa Oliveira, was arrested Tuesday at Atalaia Do Norte, a small town that Phillips and Pereira returned when they disappeared in the remote valley of Javari after receiving threats during the trip.
Amarildo, a fisherman, was arrested on June 7. The two suspects are 41 years old.
Phillips, 57, an old contributor to The Guardian in the UK and other leading international newspapers, is working on a book about sustainable development in Amazon.
Pereira, 41, a highly respected advocate for indigenous peoples in the region, acted as a guide when leaving his job with the Brazilian government customary affairs agency, or Funai.
The father of three children has repeatedly reported threatened by illegal loggers, miners and fishermen who try to violate protected land boundaries.
The loss of the two men sparked global anger, attracting the reactions of political figures and famous celebrities such as members of the Irish U2 rock band.
The government has an obligation to protect the country and not provide incentives to criminals who control the region.”