Authorities searching a remote corner of the Amazon for a missing British journalist and Brazilian indigenous specialist are investigating possible human remains and a place where something appears to have been buried, officials said on Friday.
Fears are growing over the fate of Dom Phillips, 57, and Bruno Pereira, 41, a respected indigenous expert since they disappeared on Sunday after receiving threats during a research trip to the Havari Valley in Brazil, a remote jungle region that monitors the increase in illegal fishing, logging, extraction and drug trafficking.
Authorities have arrested a 41-year-old suspect named Amarildo da Costa de Oliveira, nicknamed “Pelado”, who witnesses say he was chasing men up the river. A bloodstain found on a tarpaulin in his boat was sent for analysis to the criminal laboratory in Manaus, the capital of the state of Amazonas.
Emergency Officer Giovanni Masiel said investigators already had a new clue to the case: a suspicious spot with “overturned land” in a community called Cachoeira on the Itaquai River, where the men were last seen.
“It’s like someone dug something up, buried something there,” Masiel said.
“We’ll do a bottom scan to check … We can’t say there’s conclusive evidence, but we’ll see if there’s anything that could identify anything about the two missing men.”
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