Journalist Dom Phillips, 57, and indigenous expert Bruno Pereira, 41, were last seen on June 5 near the Javari Indigenous Territory in western Brazil near the Peruvian-Colombian border. The two men were in the community of Sao Rafael and were returning by boat to the nearby town of Atalaia do Norte, but never arrived. Local volunteers, the army, civil defense officials and the state police are looking for them and the police have launched a criminal investigation. The backpack was tied to a tree that was half submerged, as it is flood time in the area. This and the laptop were retrieved by the police and transported by boat to Atalaia do Norte. A police statement said clothes belonging to Mr. Pereira were found, including a health card in his name and a backpack with clothes belonging to Mr. Phillips and the boots of both men. Police have already found traces of blood on the boat of a fisherman, Amarildo da Costa de Oliveira, also known as Pelado, who has been arrested and is the only suspect so far. Mr da Costa de Oliveira fired a rifle at Mr Phillips and Mr Pereira the day before they disappeared, according to locals who were with them. He denies doing anything wrong and claims that the military police tortured him to get a confession, his family said. Read more: Officials link British journalist’s disappearance in Brazil to ‘fish mafia’ Search teams have found ‘obviously human’ remains at the site where a British journalist was last seen On Saturday, police said they found traces of blood on Mr da Costa de Oliveira’s boat and organic material apparently of human origin in the river. Both materials are in forensic analysis. Mr Pereira has previously headed the local office of the Indigenous Government Service, known as FUNAI, and has been involved in many anti-illegal operations. The area where Mr Phillips and Mr Pereira went missing has had previous violent clashes between fishermen, poachers and the government. There has also been some violence as gangs fight for control of waterways for cocaine transport.
