A British woman who vanished while canoeing in the Amazon may have been snatched by ‘pirates’, according to the police chief leading the investigation.
The 43-year-old woman, who has not been named, disappeared last Wednesday while she was canoeing on the Solimoes River in Brazil’s northern jungle state of Amazonas.
The canoeist, who was navigating the river alone, activated an emergency locator at 10pm when she was between the towns of Codajas and Coari, 150 miles west of Manaus, according to police.
The woman was canoeing alone on the Solimoes River (pictured) in Brazil’s northern jungle state of Amazonas
The canoeist, who was navigating the river alone, activated an emergency locator at 10pm on Wednesday between the towns of Codajas and Coari
Her canoe and belongings were later found on sandbanks on the side of the river, but there has been no sign of the woman.
Yesterday civil police chief Ivo Martins, who is leading the search for the missing woman, said that the area where she vanished is a drugs trafficking route and known for frequent pirate attacks.
He said: ‘There are various lines of inquiry. She could have been killed by drugs traffickers, or attacked by pirates, but she could also have been attacked by an animal, or just got lost.
‘We have been looking at all possibilities these last few days.’
In December last year civil police chief Thyago Garcez disappeared in almost exactly the same remote stretch of the Solimoes river, after he and other policemen got into a firefight with drugs traffickers. His body has never been found.
And last month a boat, supposedly navigated by traffickers transporting drugs from Peru, was attacked by pirates who robbed the cargo after an intense gunfight in the same spot, according to reports.
The British woman, who hasn’t been named on request of the British consulate, is believed to be a professional canoeist who had been rowing from Quito, Equador, on a solo expedition to cross the Amazon river at jungle city Manaus, a distance of more than 3,000 miles.
She passed through the Brazilian border post with Colombia at Tabatinga, 500 miles from where she went missing, on August 21.
The British woman, who hasn’t been named on request of the British consulate, is believed to be a professional canoeist
The organisation she worked for reportedly contacted the Brazilian navy on Wednesday night, informing that the canoeist appeared to have got into trouble and activated her emergency activator.
Navy search teams using a helicopter and two boats started looking for the woman on Thursday, and her canoe was located on Friday, when a team of three divers was also sent to the area to assist the Navy efforts.
Police chief Ivo Martins said: ‘We have already taken some of the items found on her canoe to forensics, such as clothes, some cigarette stubs and some shoes.
‘We are awaiting the arrival of her canoe to look for more clues.
‘Some local river people near where her canoe was found say they saw a woman rowing down the river, but they didn’t know which direction she was going.
‘Is it possible she fell in the river? It’s possible. Is it possible that she’s still alive? Yes, it’s possible.
‘We need to advance the investigations to find out what she was doing here, and her last steps before she disappeared.
‘We cannot rule out that she was a victim of a criminal offence, or that she simply got lost. We are working with all the hypotheses.’