UPDATEA Brazilian search team has apparently found human remains in the river where British journalist Dom Phillips (57) and Brazilian human rights activist Bruno Araujo Pereira (41) disappeared on Sunday. This is reported by Reuters news agency. A suspected fisherman was arrested on Tuesday. Blood was found in his boat. The man will remain in jail until it is clear whether he has anything to do with the case.
Journalist Phillips, a regular for the British newspaper The Guardian, and Pereira, a specialist on indigenous peoples, disappeared during a book expedition in the remote Javari valley. This jungle area on the Peru-Colombia border is home to the largest number of uncontacted indigenous peoples. The area also attracts drug gangs smuggling cocaine, as well as illegal loggers, miners and hunters.
On Tuesday, a local fisherman, Amarildo da Costa – known locally as ‘Pelado’ (‘the bald one’ in Portuguese, ed.) – was arrested and charged with possession of prohibited ammunition. According to police, Costa was one of the last people to see Phillips and Pereira in person on Sunday. The duo went missing after visiting Sao Gabriel, the fisherman’s village.
Police officers working on the case told Reuters that their investigation focuses on poachers and illegal fishermen in the region, who often clashed with Pereira. The latter often set up patrols by indigenous inhabitants of the local reserve.
According to Costa’s lawyers and family, the man only fishes legally and has nothing to do with the disappearance of the duo.
The pair’s disappearance caused a stir worldwide and human rights activists from all quarters are urging President Jair Bolsonaro to step up the search for the duo. After criticizing the government for dawdling too much in the crucial early days of the case, Bolsonaro reported on Friday at the Americas Summit that Brazilian forces are “working tirelessly” to find the two men.
By Friday, some 150 soldiers had been deployed via riverboats to locate the missing men and question the local population. Meanwhile, several have been questioned as witnesses, but so far only Costa has been arrested.
Investigators are now examining Costa’s boat for traces of genetic material and fingerprints, police said on Thursday. Authorities said a bloodstain was found on a plastic cover found in the boat, but it could take weeks to determine if it is actually human blood.
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