Brazilian police find remains in search for British journalist
BRAZILIAN police believe they have found the remains of a British journalist and his guide who went missing in a remote part of the Amazon rainforest.
Dom Phillips, 57, who wrote for The Guardian and The Washington Post, disappeared last Sunday after he and Bruno Pereira, 41, an expert on the region’s indigenous people, entered an area known for lawlessness and smuggling.
Police in the Sao Rafael region of the Amazon said last night they had found ‘organic material’ in a river close to where the men were last seen, describing the find as ‘a
major breakthrough’. Investigators are also questioning a local man, Amarildo Da Costa, after traces of blood were found in his fishing boat.
He is being held on a separate charge of possessing restricted ammunition but denies any involvement in the disappearance of the men, saying the blood came from a pig he slaughtered.
Mr Phillips, who had lived in Brazil for 15 years, was in the region to research a book about indigenous people being threatened by illegal fishermen and drug smugglers.
A report in Brazil quoted an unnamed local man as saying Mr Phillips had ‘received threats’ on the day he entered the jungle.
A source said: ‘He knew the dangers of writing about bad people but he wanted to tell the world what is going on down here.’
Mr Pereira had received ‘multiple threats’ for his work trying to combat illegal fishing in the area.