A forensic examination of human remains discovered in the Amazon rainforest on Friday verified that they belonged to British journalist Dom Phillips, according to Brazil’s federal police, who added that a man suspected of being involved in his murder was being sought.
The investigation into the cause of death is ongoing, according to authorities.
According to a CNN Brasil report published earlier on Friday, the bones of a second person, believed to be indigenous expert Bruno Pereira, were still being examined.
On June 5, Pereira and Phillips vanished in the isolated Javari Valley on the Peruvian-Colombian border. Police found human remains from a bush grave earlier this week, headed by Amarildo da Costa Oliveira, a fisherman who admitted to killing the two men.
Phillips, a freelance reporter who had worked for the Guardian and the Washington Post, was doing research for a book about the journey with Pereira, a former head of federal indigenous affairs agency Funai’s isolated and recently encountered tribes.
According to police, their investigation revealed that there were more people involved than Oliveira, and they are now hunting for a man called Jeferson da Silva Lima.
After Oliveira and his brother, Oseney da Costa, who was arrested last week, he is the third suspect listed by authorities.
‘The State Court of Atalaia do Norte has issued an arrest warrant for Jeferson da Silva Lima, alias ‘Pelado da Dinha,’ who has not been located at this time,’ police stated.
According to the investigations, the killers acted alone, with no superiors or criminal organisation to blame.
“The savagery of the murder makes evident that Pereira and Phillips caught paths with a formidable criminal organisation that tried at all costs to cover its tracks during the inquiry,” stated Univaja, a local indigenous group that played a key part in the search.
It claimed it had warned federal authorities several times since late 2021 that an organised crime gang was working in the Javari Valley.
The INA, a union representing Funai employees, agreed.
In a subsequent statement, it claimed, “We all know that violence in the Javari Valley is related to a large chain of organised crime.”
The boat Phillips and Pereira were travelling in when they were last seen alive is still missing, according to police.
On Friday, US State Department spokesman Ned Price called for “accountability and justice,” claiming Phillips and Pereira were killed for supporting rainforest conservation and indigenous peoples.
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