Journalist Dom Phillips is writing a book about the Amazon and environmentalists, while Bruno Pereira, a former senior member of the Federal Funai’s Federal Service for Protection of Indigenous Peoples, is working with UNIVAJA.
Brazilian police have taken statements from two people who were among the last to see the British journalist and the indigenous tribal expert who disappeared in an isolated area in the Amazon jungle.
Federal police identified the two men late Monday night. They were taken to testify at a police station in the riparian community of Atalaya do Norte, near where the traces of journalist Dom Phillips and Brazilian Bruno Pereira, a former high-ranking member of the Federal Office for the Protection of Human Rights, disappeared.
The two witnesses have not been arrested, police said.
An Amazon state police officer, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said the two witnesses did not provide any useful information.
Pereira and Phillips went missing early Sunday morning while returning from a trip to the Giavari River Valley.
The indigenous Bruno Araújo Pereira and the English journalist Dom Phillips are depopulated in Amazonia. I work in a region reporting invasions of indigenous terraces. Phillips interviewed me about o @guardian em 2017. Espero que sejam encontrados logo, que estejam bem e em segurança. pic.twitter.com/nuyJfmyOqr
– Lula (@LulaOficial) June 6, 2022
In this vast area, which borders Peru, live many indigenous tribes that have no contact with the outside world. The area is threatened by illegal loggers, hunters, mine owners and gangs that grow coca.
In a televised interview, Phillips’s wife, Alessandra Sampaio, was visibly upset and called on authorities to step up their investigation “because there is still hope that we can find them.” “Even if I do not find the love of my life alive, they must be found, please.”
“Even if I do not find the love of my life alive, we must find them, please”: @domphillips‘s wife Alessandra makes emotional plea for help 😠pic.twitter.com/IPtCerJiKf
– Tom Phillips (@tomphillipsin) June 7, 2022
The Association of Indigenous Peoples of the Giavari Valley (UNIVAJA), who first announced the disappearances of the two men, said they had recently received threats. Phillips wrote a book about the Amazon and the defenders of the environment. Pereira is working with UNIVAJA and other indigenous organizations after far-right president Zaich Bolsonaru ousted him from his post at Funai.
The Brazilian Navy has launched a search and rescue operation and sent a boat to search for the two missing. He said in a statement that a helicopter, two other boats and a jet ski were also heading to the area to help. Admiral Augusto Vieira da Cunia, however, noted that the Navy base in the nearby town of Tabatinga is small, with only 30 men and limited operational means.
