Traces of blood have been found on the boat of a suspect arrested in connection with the disappearance of a British journalist and a Brazilian indigenous expert in the Amazon, authorities said Thursday, as calls grew to intensify the search.
Dom Phillips, 57, a regular contributor to The Guardian newspaper, and Bruno Pereira, 41, a specialist in indigenous peoples, were reported missing on Sunday after they ventured into the middle of the Amazon rainforest.
‘Traces of blood were found on the boat of Amarildo da Costa de Oliveira, 41,’ Brazil police said in a statement, adding that the suspect known as ‘Pelado’ was arrested on Tuesday.
‘The material collected is on its way to Manaus,’ the capital of the Amazonas state, for expert analysis, the statement added.
It was accompanied by images of investigators taking photos of what appeared to be a small bloodstain on a blue tarp inside a motorboat with peeling paint.
Traces of blood have been found on the boat of a suspect arrested in connection with the disappearance of British journalist Dom Phillips, 57, who went missing Sunday
Veteran foreign correspondent Phillips, pictured left in 2019 in Roraima State, and Pereira, pictured right, were doing research for a book
Brazil’s federal police released images yesterday of forensic analysts collecting samples from a bloodstain found on an arrested suspect’s boat
A fisherman named Amarildo da Costa de Oliveira, 41, was arrested on Tuesday in connection with Phillips and Pereira’s disappearance. Pictured: Amarildo da Costa de Oliveira’s boat is examined by a forensics expert
Amarildo da Costa de Oliveira, also known as ‘Pelado’, reportedly threatened Phillips and Pereira before they went missing while investigating illegal fishermen attacks on indigenous communities. Pictured: Samples are collected from Pelado’s boat
Veteran foreign correspondent Phillips pictured in 2019 in Roraima State
Members of the Matis indigenous group have joined the search for Phillips and Pereira on the Itaquai river in the Javari Valley Indigenous territory (pictured)
A candlelit vigil was held by employees of the National Indigenous Foundation for the missing pair
The Javari is thought to be home to the biggest concentration of uncontacted people in the world
The Javari region is an area notorious for illegal mining and drug trafficking, and the pair had reportedly faced threats before their disappearance
The statement is a grim twist in the ongoing search for the two men, whose fate remains unknown.
The Brazilian authorities said they are hopeful of finding the pair alive but do not exclude any outcome, including that of homicide, in a region where trafficking is rife.
High-profile personalities and environmental and human rights groups have rallied to the cause, urging President Jair Bolsonaro to step up the search.
The pair were investigating alleged attacks by illegal fishermen on indigenous tribespeople in the area, and had reportedly been threatened by 41-year-old Pelado, who was arrested on Tuesday in connection with the incident, as well as a number of other unknown individuals who are being hunted by Brazilian police.
Phillips and Pereira were returning to Atalaia do Norte by boat from Lago do Jaburu, in the the Vale do Javari indigenous land, where they had been conducting interviews about alleged attacks by illegal fishermen against indigenous tribesmen.
They reportedly received threats from loggers and miners along the way for their investigative work.
Police say that guide Pereira had organised a meeting with community leader nicknamed ‘Barbeque’ – who is Pelado’s uncle.
Two Amazonas state police detectives directly involved in the case told Reuters news agency illegal fishing and poaching were likely behind their disappearance.
Around 6,300 indigenous people live in the area, belonging to more than 20 groups – with the area facing threats from illegal loggers, miners and hunters.
The Indigenous group Univaja said Phillips and Pereira had arrived Friday evening by boat at their destination of Lago do Jaburu, and they had been due to return two days later by river to the city of Atalaia do Norte – but after failing to arrive by 2pm on Sunday, the indigenous group raised the alarm and sent out a search party.
The Brazilian authorities said they are hopeful of finding the pair alive but do not exclude any outcome, including that of homicide, in a region where trafficking is rife.
‘Where is Dom Phillips? Where is Bruno Pereira?’ asked the journalist’s sister, Sian Phillips, in a statement to the media during a gathering of around 30 people in front of Brazil’s embassy in London.
‘We want the UK authorities to put pressure on the Brazilian government,’ she added, before she and other family members were received by the ambassador.
‘We want to carry on with the search. We want to find out what is happening to them and we want anyone responsible for any criminal act to be brought to justice. We want a persistent deep and open investigation,’ she added.
‘He is a great writer and journalist. He is a caring man. He cares about the environment. He loves Brazil,’ Phillips said of her brother, who has written for various publications about threats to the Amazon.
‘He’s a great guy and we love him with all our heart.’
Paul Sherwood, Phillips’ brother-in-law, told AFP the family had ‘been assured that everything has been done that can be done.’
Bolsonaro, who was attending the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, said yesterday: ‘Let’s pray to God that they are still alive.’
But he added: ‘With each day that passes, those chances fade.’
He had drawn criticism in past days for appearing to blame the missing men, saying they had undertaken an ‘unadvisable adventure’.
The BBC reports that Phillips and Pereira were ‘hugely experienced’ and had planned their journey thoroughly, bringing plenty of fuel and other contingency supplies.
Phillips and Pereira went missing in the Javari Valley in Amazonas state, located in the west of the Amazon basin, near Peru.
The remote region is experiencing an escalation in armed violence due to the presence of miners, gold diggers, poachers and drug traffickers.
Phillips and Pereira, who were on a two-day reporting trip, were last seen in the early hours of Sunday (June 5) morning. They were expected to make the two-hour boat trip to São Rafael, Atalaia do Norte, with their arrival planned for 8am on Sunday, but never arrived.
Sian Phillips together with Gareth Phillips, the siblings of missing journalist Dom Phillips hold a placard and a rose, as demonstrators gather outside the Brazilian Embassy in London yesterday
The niece of Phillips, Domonique Davies (right), shows her emotion as she takes part in a vigil outside the Brazilian Embassy on Thursday morning
A sign reads ‘where are Dom Philips and Bruno Pereira?’ at a candlelit vigil for the missing pair
A vigil was held in central London on Thursday morning for the missing pair, with well-wishers gathering outside the Brazilian Embassy carrying large images of Phillips and Pereira.
The Brazilian federal police said they would have the blood sample sent off for further analysis to find out whether it was human or animal blood
Investigators crowd around a small bloodstain on a blue tarp inside a motorboat with peeling paint
The meeting was reportedly about ‘consolidating joint work between riverside dwellers and indigenous people in the surveillance of the territory’, reports Brazilian newspaper O Globo.
Witnesses said they saw the suspect speeding by in a boat going in the same direction as Phillips and Pereira when they were last seen.
Police said the man had been arrested for carrying unlicensed calibre ammunition and drugs.
Police did not clarify why he was being treated as a suspect but he is thought to have been among a group of men who threatened the pair near an indigenous territory.
She blamed the Brazilian authorities for delaying the search but said they ‘all have hope’ that the pair will be found.
‘He is a great writer and journalist. He is a caring man. He cares about the environment. He loves Brazil,’ Phillips said of her brother.
‘He’s a great guy and we love him with all our heart.’
Phillips, who is based in the city of Salvador, had previously accompanied Pereira in 2018 to the Javari Valley for a story in the Guardian newspaper, where he has been a regular contributor
The journalist takes notes in Aldeia Waikay, a hamlet of the Yekuana tribe in Roraima State, Brazil, in November 2019
A rescue team searches for Phillips and Pereira on the Javari river in Acre State, Brazil, on the border with Peru – after the pair went missing on what President Bolsonaro called an ‘unadvisable’ trip
In response to growing international pressure, Brazil sent federal police (pictured) to Atalaia do Norte, Amazonas state, on Wednesday to support the local search parties
Paul Sherwood, Phillips’ brother-in-law, told AFP the family had ‘been assured that everything has been done that can be done.’
Chelmsford MP Vicky Ford said she spoke with Brazil’s justice and public security minister Anderson Torres, who is also in charge of the federal police, at the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles.
‘He assured me Brazilian authorities are doing all that can be done in air, boats & land in v difficult and remote terrain to find Dom and will keep searching,’ the minister tweeted.
‘(The) UK is ready to support (the) operation,’ she added.
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