The discovery occurs after two fishermen confessed to being the authors of the double murder of a journalist and an indigenista
Brazilian authorities found human remains in the place where they are wanted a British journalist and a Brazilian indigenista disappeared eleven days ago in a remote and jungle region of the Amazon, official sources reported Wednesday.
The remains were found by the Federal Police after the two main suspects in the disappearance confess to murdering British journalist Dom Phillipscontributor to The Guardian newspaper, and the indigenista Bruno Araújo Pereiraand lead the federal agents to the place where they said they were buried.
“I have just been informed by the Federal Police that human remains were found in the place where they carry out the excavations. They will be subjected to an expert opinion,” reported the Brazilian Minister of Justice, Anderson Torres, in a message posted on his social networks.
The announcement was made a few hours after sources from the Federal Police reported that the two brothers who are in prison are the main suspects in the case. they had confessed murder of the journalist and the indigenista.
After the confession, the two suspects led the investigators to the place in the Vale do Javari, on the brazilian amazon close to the border with Peru and Colombiawhere they said they had buried what remained of the bodies after having dismembered and cremated them.
According to Federal Police spokesmen, excavations at the site will continue on the night of this Wednesday.
The alleged perpetrators of the murder are the fishermen brothers Amarildo da Costa Oliveira, known as “Pelado”, and Oseney da Costa de Oliveira, known as “Dos Santos”. The first was arrested last week and was considered the main suspect and the second was arrested on Tuesday.
Both said they committed the crime after Araújo surprised them fishing in prohibited areas because it is the jurisdiction of an indigenous reserve.
Phillips and Araújo’s trail was lost on June 5 when they were traveling from the community of Sao Rafael to the city of Atalaia do Norte. Both were traveling in a new boat, with 70 liters of gasolineenough for the trip, and were seen for the last time near the community of Sao Gabriel, a few kilometers from Sao Rafael.
Araújo, who has been working in that region for years and knows the area in depth, had been the target of various threats from mafias of illegal miners and fishermenloggers and even drug traffickers who operate in the so-called Vale do Javari.
Phillips, for his part, is a veteran journalist based in Brazil for 15 years and who has collaborated with various international media, such as the Financial Times, New York Times and the Washington Postamong others, and is currently working on research for a book on the threats suffered by indigenous communities in the Vale do Javari.
The disappearance of the journalist and the indigenista generated a huge wave of concern among environmental movements and even in some international organizationssuch as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, which asked the Brazilian government to reinforce the searches.