The final haunting video recorded by a British headmistress murdered by pirates in the Amazon has been released.
Emma Kelty, 43, had her throat cut by a vicious gang before her body was dumped while she was two months into a 4,000-mile solo kayaking trip.
The devastating video shows Ms Kelty, who sold her London flat to complete a source-to-sea journey along the Amazon River, explaining that she ‘can’t wait to start’ her epic adventure. It was filmed on June 17 – just a day before her trip began.
The devastating video shows Ms Kelty, who sold her London flat to complete a source-to-sea journey along the Amazon River, explaining that she ‘can’t wait to start’ her epic adventure
As she stands by her backpacks and gear in Queropalco, Peru, she says: ‘I can’t wait to actually start – to get up to the top and actually start kayaking down.
She is then asked how long her journey is expected to take, replying: ‘About five to six months – so, yeah, it’s a long time.’
The video ends with Ms Kelty waving to a camera with a spectacularly beautiful lake and mountain range behind her.
The family of the British adventurer were mistakenly told she had been murdered two weeks before she was killed by pirates, it was reported today.
As she stands by her backpacks and gear in Queropalco, Peru, she says: ‘I can’t wait to actually start – to get up to the top and actually start kayaking down
When the canoeist found out about the scare, which happened while she was still in Peru, she joked: ‘Let’s hope it’s not a premonition!’
James Contos, a whitewater kayaing guide who assisted Ms Kelty during the first part of her ‘source to sea’ expedition of the Amazon, told how, on August 28, he received news that she had been murdered near the city of Iquitos.
The family of British adventurer Emma Kelty were mistakenly told she had been murdered two weeks before she was killed by pirates in Brazil, it was reported today
One of the indigenous guides who had been with her in the Andes also told him that the canoeist’s body had been found.
Mr Contos contacted her brother Piers to break the tragic news, who told friends and started the process of making contact with the British Embassy in Peru.
He told Brazil’S G1 website: ‘However, I thought it seemed strange, because Emma’s last posts put her a long way from where the body was found.’
American Mr Contos, an experienced canoeist himself, decided to send a message to Ms Kelty on her GPS device – and to his and her family’s relief she replied.
‘Let’s hope it’s not a premonition!!’, she wrote back. ‘I am in contact with Piers. Many thanks for getting in touch.’
He said: ‘There had been a mix-up in identifying the body. There were three other sports people following in kayaks a little behind Emma and it could have been one of them, but that’s not been verified yet.
‘The news that it was Emma’s corpse was wrong. She was well and already in Brazil when I managed to get in touch with her.’
When the canoeist found out about the scare, which happened while she was still in Peru, she joked: ‘Let’s hope it’s not a premonition!’
When the canoeist found out about the scare, which happened while she was still in Peru, she joked: ‘Let’s hope it’s not a premonition!’
The suspects linked to the murder of Emma Kelty were taken under armed guard to prison
Just two weeks later, and 89 days into her 4,000 mile trip, Ms Kelty’s family received the same news that she had been killed, which this time turned out to be true.
Ms Kelty, 43, contacted Mr Contos last year after finding out his SierraRios organisation provides support and training to people wanting to kayak down the Andes mountains where the Amazon river begins.
She began to train six months before her expedition began on June 18.
He said: ‘I climbed with her, until the place where the spring begins, and she stayed there until the beginning of her journey.’
James Contos, a whitewater kayaing guide who assisted Ms Kelty during the first part of her ‘source to sea’ expedition of the Amazon, told how, on August 28, he received news that she had been murdered near the city of Iquitos. Pictured, Emma’s kayak was delivered to the Amazon civil police in Manaus by the Brazil navy
ust two weeks later, and 89 days into her 4,000 mile trip, Ms Kelty’s family received the same news that she had been killed, which this time turned out to be true. Pictured, the alleged pirates’ canoe apprehended by the Amazon civil police
Mr Contos supported her for the next 43 days from the beginning of the journey to the base of the Andes, where she continued her trip alone.
He said: ‘She wasn’t a very competent canoeist in whitewater rapids. She was determined to do everything by her own strength and didn’t want to use the raft on some places that were difficult to pass. One time, it two days for her to pass just one rapids.’
From the beginning Ms Kelty had decided she wanted to do the expedition unassisted, and the support she had contracted by SierraRios ended on July 30.
Horrific new details of the last moments of Emma Kelty’s life were revealed yesterday in a confession made by one of the suspects shortly after the British kayaker’s death.
Evanilson Gomes da Costa was found dead after going on the run in the wake of the murder having reportedly been shot by rival drug traffickers.
Pictured, police released photos of suspects linked to the murder of Emma Kelty in Brazil
Police have now recovered the former headteacher’s GPS device, as well as a mobile phone and a memory card (pictured), which the gang of seven ‘pirates’ sold to local villagers after killing her
Search: Specialist divers (pictured) have been brought in to search for the British victim’s body
Arrest: Pictures have emerged showing two of the suspects being led away by police
But before he died – and just hours after the death of Miss Kelty – the 24-year-old told a local villager what the gang had done, it has been claimed.
One of the men, Artur Gomes da Silva, claimed he tried to decapitate the headteacher with a machete.
José Afonso Barradas Jr, police chief in the city of Coari, northwestern Brazil, said: ‘He claimed he tried to cut her head off with a machete but failed.’
The villager said da Costa had told him how his gang had come across Miss Kelty’s tent and, believing it to belong to drug traffickers, had opened fire from 50m away.
The unnamed villager added: ‘The woman was hit in the arm. She started waving frantically and screaming for help.’
But still believing she was transporting drugs, they approached the tent and started attacking her, cutting off her hair with a knife as they ordered to hand over narcotics.
The adventurer, who sold her north London flat ahead of the trek, started the journey in Ecuador’s capital of Quito in June
Miss Kelty had left her job as a headmistress at a Surrey primary school to travel the world, and this year became the sixth woman to ski alone to the South Pole
One of the group then slit her throat before all four men ‘sexually abused her’, the villager said.
Her body was then dumped in the Amazon before the men fled. Villagers provided police with their details and identities, he added.
It comes after it emerged that a man arrested over the murder has admitted to slitting her throat and throwing her bullet-riddled body into a river, police say.
Da Silva made his confession after being held following an anonymous tip-off, police chief Jose Barradas revealed.
The suspect was found hiding in bushes with a phone and a GPS tracker after the 43-year-old former headmistress was murdered.
His confession comes as it emerged the killers alerted authorities to their crime after unwittingly triggering a distress signal on her equipment.
Investigators had first thought the emergency alert which pinpointed Emma Kelty’s exact location and triggered a search operation by Brazil’s Navy had been sent by the victim herself.
But in fact the ‘SOS’ button was pressed by one of her killers who was trying to work out how to use the device they had stolen, an hour and a half after her death.
Police have now recovered the GPS device, as well as a mobile phone and a memory card.
The GPS signal sent at 10pm last Wednesday night led investigators to the riverside village of Lauro Sodre, 150 miles west of Manaus, and a manhunt which has brought about the arrest of three men accused of her murder.
A fourth man was killed yesterday in an unrelated gangfight, and three brothers are still on the run.
One of the suspects, Artur Gomes da Silva, nicknamed Beira, was due to be flown from Coari to Amazonas state capital Manaus today and remanded in prison ahead of trial.
Miss Kelty had left her job as a headmistress at a Surrey primary school to travel the world, and this year became the sixth woman to ski alone to the South Pole
Emma Kelty, 43, is said to have been robbed by a gang before being blasted twice with a shotgun and her body thrown in a river
Mr Barradas, insisting Miss Kelty had not been decapitated as was initially reported, said: ‘It was an easy arrest. He confessed that after the British tourist’s shooting, he and another suspect slit her throat and then threw her body into the river.’
Yesterday Barradas said he doubted anyone would have discovered what happened to Ms Kelty if the ‘stupid’ gangsters hadn’t set off her emergency locator by mistake.
He said: ‘They didn’t know how it worked, so were messing around with it and pushing buttons.
‘One of them must have pushed the button which transmitted an alert that she was in trouble. In turn the company that received it alerted the Navy, along with the exact location of where the button was pushed.
‘Without that, it would have been very difficult to know where in this vast area of jungle she had gone missing.
‘It would have probably remained an unsolved mystery and her killers never brought to justice.
‘The place where she disappeared is a very complicated area, it’s difficult to access and there are no telephones or mobile signal. The criminals thought they could kill her in impunity, but then they stupidly pressed the only button which could have turned them in to the police.’
Mr Barradas Junior added that some of the locals who bought Ms Kelty’s stolen items from the pirates later hid them in the forest after finding out who they belonged to.
The Brazilian navy and police force sent ships into the Amazon in a bid to find Emma Kelty, who is believed to have been murdered. But her body has not yet been found
Pictured: A Brazilian navy helicopter flying low over the river in the hope of finding a trace of Emma Kelty
He said: ‘They were afraid that they could be arrested for being in possession of stolen property.
‘But they later took police to the places where they had hid them so the items could be recovered.’
Police believe the gang shot Ms Kelty twice with a sawn-off caliber .20 shotgun as she lay in her tent on the banks of the Solimoes river.
They then robbed her of her belongings before stabbing her and dumping her body in the fast-flowing waters.
Yesterday tributes to the adventurer poured in from friends and admirers on her Facebook page, which her family.
Louise Rudd, who said she spent two weeks with Ms Kelty in Chile before flying out on South Pole expeditions wrote: ‘A courageous lady with a truly adventurous spirit who was willing to give anything a go. A senseless loss.’
Another friend, Karen Rayner, wrote: ‘Emma was an inspiration grabbing everything life had to offer and challenging preconceptions, negativity and striving to break records whilst raising awareness and money for her causes.
‘Her infectious humour and love of her fellow human beings shone through in her blogs and updates. You will be sorely missed and we have lost our bright star!’
And Yasmin Momeni wrote: ‘She was truly an inspiration and encouraged me to do whatever it was in life that I had the desire to do. I had never met someone so brave and strong as Emma.’