The family of missing British journalist Dom Phillips has apologized after being mistakenly told his body had been found.
Brazilian police are looking for a 57-year-old writer and a 41-year-old indigenous expert, Bruno Pereira.
They disappeared from remote areas of the Amazon and were most likely last seen in the community of San Rafael early on June 5.
On Monday, the Phillips family called an aide to the Brazilian ambassador to the UK to tie himself to trees in the rainforest.
But journalist brother Paul Sherwood said yesterday that Ambassador Fred Aruda wrote to his family that the statement was wrong.
“I am deeply saddened that the embassy provided incorrect information to my family yesterday,” the ambassador said.
He went on to say that the embassy was “misunderstood” by information received from “investigators”. “Search activity will continue effortlessly,” Aruda argued.
“Our thoughts remain with Dom, Bruno, you and other members of both families,” he added.
Yesterday, Brazilian police arrested a second suspect in the disappearance of a couple in a tropical forest. Osny da Costa de Oliveira, 41, also known as “Dos Santos”, was temporarily detained.
Police suspect that he was involved in the case with his brother Amarildo and Costa de Oliveira, who were arrested last week.
Amarildo, known as “Perado,” was arrested last week in a riverside town in San Gabriel, not far from where Pereira and Phillips last stayed. He was arrested on suspicion of carrying firearms without a permit. This is a common practice in the region.
The police did not identify why they treated him as a suspect, but I believe he was part of a group of people who threatened to disappear near the Indians on June 4.
Police officers returned to San Gabriel yesterday to seize ammunition and shovels, according to a statement.
Both suspects are at the police station in the nearest town, Atarai Adnorte, where the second man was arrested.
The search for the missing person is drawing to a close as the remaining area covered is shrinking, according to representatives of the Univaja indigenous group, who are constantly searching.
Univaja’s lawyer, Eliesio Marubo, said he notified authorities after finding traces of men in the area who helped the indigenous people focus on the search.
Brazilian federal police said the latest search case for two men was the discovery of their personal belongings.
Included were Phillips’ backpack and boots, as well as Pereira’s own health card, black pants, black sandals, and boots.
A firefighter from the search team told reporters with a backpack and laptop strapped to a half-sunken tree branch.
On Saturday, there was another report that police found a human body in the Itakuai River, near the port of Ataraia do Norte. Authorities had previously stated that blood found in the suspect’s boat had been sent for testing.
Reports of the couple’s disappearance have spread around the world, prompting human rights groups, environmentalists and press freedom advocates to step up the investigation of Brazilian President Jail Borsonaro.
Protesters yesterday marched to the Brazilian Ministry of Justice in the Brazilian capital, raising flags with the faces of two men, demanding justice and answers.
Employees of the local Funai agency have announced a one-day strike to demand more security for professionals working in the field.
They also called on the organization’s presidents, Marcelo August Xavier y Silva, to withdraw their critical comments after Pereira’s disappearance.
Pereira considered that it was a successful operation to work with Funai until his dismissal in 2019 to prevent illegal mining in the area for indigenous peoples.
Bolsonaro, who was once at a news conference before harsh questioning about weakening environmental law enforcement, said last week that the two men were “on a non-recommended adventure” and were sentenced to death. He suggested that there is a possibility.
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Source: Metro
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