Days of searching by the military, navy, police and indigenous peoples left little trace of the two men, and Phillips’s mother-in-law said she had lost all hope of finding them alive. “He is no longer with us,” he wrote on Instagram. “Mother Nature has grabbed them with a grateful embrace. The material has been undone and incorporated into the land that they so loved and respected. “ “Their souls are united with those of so many others who gave their lives to defend the rainforest and the indigenous peoples. “Today they are part of a huge and pulsating vital energy that springs from this vast green that is the heart of Brazil.” Phillips’s wife posted the statement and said she agreed. The two men went missing at the end of a reference trip made by Phillips as part of a book on sustainable development in the area. He traveled with Pereira, a regular driver and friend, to interview natives in Vale do Javari, an area almost as large as Ireland and Wales combined. They were reported missing when their boat did not show up at their scheduled return point in Atalaia do Norte. Authorities arrested a man, Amarildo da Costa de Oliveira, who was seen threatening Phillips and Pereira the day before their disappearance. Traces of blood found on the Da Costa de Oliveira boat and what police called “apparently human organic material” found in the river have been sent for forensic examination along with DNA from the Phillips and Pereira families. However, police said they had not directly linked him to the incident. Subscribe to the First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every morning at 7 p.m. BST Pereira had previously been threatened for his work in the area, where he helped the 26 indigenous tribes monitor and protect their land. Illegal lumberjacks, miners, hunters and fishermen crave the area’s natural resources and drug dealers ship their produce to the area. A group of natives working closely with Pereira published a series of documents on Saturday detailing “the way criminal gangs operate” operating in their territory. Under Brazilian law, only indigenous people can hunt and fish on indigenous land, but the UNIVAJA group has shared details of boats loaded with turtles, wildlife and pirarucu – which, up to three meters high, are one of the largest freshwater fish on the planet. Some of the prey is sold openly at markets in Atalaia do Norte, he said, and named locals who claimed to be involved.
