A Brazilian man has confessed to killing missing British journalist Dom Phillips and Brazilian activist Bruno Pereira. The Brazilian federal police announced this on Wednesday during a press conference in the city of Manaus. The suspect led police to buried human remains. An investigation must determine whether it concerns the missing duo.
The suspect says he shot and killed the two journalists, sank their boat and buried them. Earlier, the police arrested two brothers, who worked as illegal fishermen. They were seen near Phillips and Pereira the day the two reporters disappeared.
Also read:‘Part of Amazon where missing people disappeared is threatened from all sides’
big search
After Dom Phillips, a British journalist mainly for The Guardian wrote, on June 5, Bruno Pereira, his Brazilian guide, disappeared as they sailed in a motorboat towards the riverside town of Atalaia do Norte, colleagues and family immediately sounded the alarm. Deep in the Amazon near the border with Peru, the Javari Valley is an area where drug trafficking, illegal fishing and mining take place. Phillips and Pereira, who received death threats before their departure, were researching the area for a book the British journalist was writing.
Indigenous communities in the area immediately began a major search. However, it took several days before federal authorities were deployed to comb the area with heavier equipment. There have been conflicting reports from the area in recent days. For example, Phillips’ wife was told Monday that the bodies of the two had been found, but this was later contradicted by authorities. The Brazilian ambassador to England later apologized for this.