After a suspect confessed to killing British journalist Dom Phillips and Brazilian indigenous expert Bruno Pereira in the Amazon jungle, investigators claimed on Wednesday that they had uncovered human remains in their search for them. According to investigator Eduardo Fontes, the suspect, a fisherman who had a falling out with Pereira over Pereira’s attempts to prevent illegal fishing on the indigenous property, led authorities to a remote burial site where the bones were recovered. The announcement concludes a topic that drew worldwide interest, lingering over President Jair Bolsonaro during a regional summit and creating anxiety in the British Parliament.
Phillips, a freelance journalist who has written for the Guardian and the Washington Post, was conducting research for a book about his trip with Pereira, a former head of the federal indigenous affairs agency for Funai’s isolated and recently encountered tribes. They were in the Javari Valley, a remote rainforest area near the Colombia-Peru border that is home to the world’s biggest population of uncontacted indigenous people. Illegal fishers, hunters, loggers, and miners have infiltrated the area, which authorities say is a major drug trafficking route.
Amarildo da Costa, called ‘Pelado,’ a fisherman who was detained last week on gun charges, was previously designated as the key suspect. On Tuesday night, his brother, Oseney da Costa, 41, also known as ‘Dos Santos,’ was detained. The boys’ public defenders could not be reached for comment. The relatives of the suspects had previously denied any involvement in the men’s disappearance.
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