Tributes to British adventurer killed on Amazon trip
THE FAMILY of British adventurer Emma Kelty have paid tribute to their “active and determined sister” after she was killed while kayaking alone in the Brazilian Amazon.
The 43-year-old former headteacher’s three siblings said she was “dearly loved by us all and her strength will be sorely missed”, in a statement released by the Foreign Office.
The Londoner was last heard from on Wednesday September 13, days after posting about her fears of being robbed or murdered in a jungle area used for drug trafficking.
Local police said a teenager had been arrested and confessed to taking part in her killing.
The former head teacher’s last known location was around 150 miles west of the jungle city of Manaus, between the towns of Coari and Codajas.
A Foreign Office spokesman said on Tuesday: “We are supporting the family of a British woman following her death in Brazil and are in contact with the Brazilian authorities.”
Ms Kelty was 42 days into a 4,000-mile trip from the Amazon’s source in Peru, through Brazil and to its mouth on the Atlantic Ocean, using a GPS tool, social media and blogging to let friends follow her progress.
The previous day she had tweeted about passing boats full of men with arrows and rifles, and the stretch of river she was attempting to travel is a known route for bandits and drug traffickers, local reports say.
Some of her belongings, including the kayak, were found by the Brazilian navy on Friday, Mr Martins told local media.
Olie Hunter Smart, an explorer who completed a similar route in 2015, said Coari was known to be a dangerous area.
Mr Smart, who is currently walking the length of India, said: “The Emma that I met was an incredibly brave and courageous person who lived life to the full.”
In a posting before the journey, Ms Kelty wrote that the adventure had four parts, and the third was “getting through the notorious drug baron and organ harvesting folks”.