The Federal Police (PF) reported having found the bodies that could belong to British journalist Dom Phillips and Funai indigenist Bruno Pereira this Wednesday (15), ten days after the pair disappeared while sailing on the Itaquaí River, on the edge of the Indigenous Land (TI) Vale do Javari, in western Amazonas.
According to the PF, the bodies were buried in the middle of the forest, in the region of Atalaia do Norte. The location was indicated by two fishermen arrested on suspicion of involvement in the crime, the brothers Amarildo da Costa Oliveira, known as Pelado, and Oseney da Costa de Oliveira, known as “Dos Santos”, arrested yesterday (14) by the task force that investigate the case.
“Last night we got the first detainee in this case, known as Pelado, to voluntarily confess to the criminal practice. During the confession, he narrates in detail the crime carried out and points out the place where he had buried the bodies”, said the PF regional superintendent, Eduardo Fontes, at a press conference.
“We do not rule out the possibility of other people being involved. We have a lot to do in the investigation to safely collect evidence of authorship and materiality.”
The material collected will be examined in Brasília, and only after this process is completed can the identities of the victims be confirmed.
Shortly before the PF press conference in Manaus, Justice Minister Anderson Torres stated on Twitter that “human remains were found at the site, where excavations were being carried out”. The information was released without further details.
🚨🚨I have just been informed by @policiafederal that “human remains were found at the site where excavations were being carried out”. They will undergo forensic examination. Even today, those responsible for the investigations will hold a press conference in Manaus.
— Anderson Torres (@andersongtorres) June 15, 2022
the victims
Pereira was a licensed public servant at Funai and had worked in partnership with the leaders of the Union of Indigenous Peoples of Vale do Javari since 2019. In the same year, he was exonerated from the position of head of the unit of the indigenist agency in Vale do Javari, after having supported operations to combat illegal mining.
Phillips was a prestigious international reporter who had lived in Brazil for 15 years, first in São Paulo, then in Bahia. He switched from covering the world of music, in England, to dedicate himself to socio-environmental problems in Brazil, with recurring contributions to the British newspaper The Guardian.
Before the disappearance, Phillips was taken by Pereira to do interviews with riverside and indigenous people. The reporter’s objective was to get to know the reality of the region up close, where residents suffer from illegal fishing and hunting, drug trafficking and mining.
Since 2019, when he graduated from Funai, the indigenist worked in partnership with the Union of Indigenous Peoples of the Javari Valley (Univaja), conducting a surveillance and monitoring program for the territory and strengthening indigenous self-defense. As a result, he had been the target of death threats days before his disappearance.
Tireless searches and appeals against omission
The confirmation of the deaths comes after a period of anguish for family and friends of the victims, until then considered missing. Over the course of 11 days, tireless searches were carried out by the indigenous people of Vale Javari. On Sunday (12), the PF reported finding a backpack with Bruno and Dom’s belongings.
On the same day, Univaja claimed to have located a vessel that would belong to “Pelado”. On Friday (10), the PF reported having located “apparently human” organic material in an area close to the port of Atalaia do Norte, which was sent for forensics in Manaus (AM).
The federal government faced pressure from inside and outside Brazil to do more in the search for the pair. Indigenous and indigenist organizations, in addition to the victims’ relatives, criticized the delay in making the aircraft available, considered essential for the quick location of Pereira and Phillips.
Editing: Rodrigo Durao Coelho
