Dom Phillips: Belongs to the missing British journalist and companion found by divers in Brazil | World News
Divers searching for a missing British journalist and his colleagues have found a backpack, laptop and other personal items belonging to the couple in a remote part of the Amazon.
Journalist Dom Phillips, 57, and Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira, 41, have Last seen on June 5 near the Javari Valley Indigenous Territory, located in western Brazil, near the border of Peru and Colombia.
The two men were in the Sao Rafael community and were returning by boat to the nearby city of Atalaia do Norte, but they never arrived.
Local volunteers, the military, civil defense officials, and state police searched for them and The police have opened a criminal investigation.
The backpack was tied to a tree that was half submerged because it was flood season in the area. That and the laptop were recovered by police and taken by boat to Atalaia do Norte.
A police statement said Mr. Pereira’s clothes were found, including a health identification card bearing his name, a backpack containing Mr. Phillips’ clothes and both men’s shoes.
Police found traces of blood on the boat of a fisherman, Amarildo da Costa de Oliveira, also known as Pelado, who was arrested and is the sole suspect so far.
Mr. da Costa de Oliveira pointed a gun at Mr. Phillips and Mr. Pereira a day before they disappeared, according to the natives traveling with them.
He denied doing anything wrong and claimed the military police tortured him to get a confession, his family said.
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On Saturday, police announced that they had found traces of blood in da Costa de Oliveira’s boat and clearly human organic substances inside the river.
Both documents are undergoing forensic analysis.
Mr. Pereira previously led the local office of the government’s indigenous agency, known as FUNAI, and was involved in a number of activities against illegal fishing.
The area where Mr. Phillips and Mr. Pereira went missing has seen previous violent conflicts between fishermen, poachers and the government.
There was also some violence as gangs scrambled for control of waterways for transporting cocaine.
