Remains of British journalist found in Amazon, police name new suspect
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[June 18, 2022]
By Gabriel Araujo and Carolina Pulice
SAO PAULO (Reuters) -A forensic exam
carried out on human remains found in the Amazon rainforest confirmed on
Friday that they belonged to British journalist Dom Phillips, Brazil's
federal police said, adding that a search was underway for a man
suspected of involvement in his killing.
Work is proceeding to determine the cause of death, police said in a
statement.
The remains of a second person, believed to be that of indigenous expert
Bruno Pereira, were still under analysis, a report by CNN Brasil said
earlier on Friday.
Pereira and Phillips vanished on June 5 in the remote Javari Valley
bordering Peru and Colombia. Earlier this week, police recovered human
remains from a grave in the jungle where they were led by a fisherman,
Amarildo da Costa Oliveira, who confessed to killing the two men.
Phillips, a freelance reporter who had written for the Guardian and the
Washington Post, was doing research for a book on the trip with Pereira,
a former head of isolated and recently contacted tribes at federal
indigenous affairs agency Funai.
Police said their investigation suggested there were more individuals
involved beyond Oliveira and that they were now looking for a man named
Jeferson da Silva Lima.
He is the third suspect named by police after Oliveira and his brother,
Oseney da Costa, who was taken into custody this week.
"There is an arrest warrant issued by the State Court of Atalaia do
Norte against Jeferson da Silva Lima, aka 'Pelado da Dinha', who has not
been located at this time," police said.
"The investigations indicate that the killers acted
alone, with no bosses or criminal organization behind the crime."
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![](../images/061822PIX/news_p69.jpg)
Federal Police officers carry a coffin containing human remains
after a suspect confessed to killing British journalist Dom Phillips
and Brazilian indigenous expert Bruno Pereira and led police to the
location of remains, at the headquarters of the Federal Police, in
Brasilia, Brazil, June 16, 2022. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/Jun/18/images/ads/current/stuffedaria_sda_HEROS_2022.png)
Local indigenous group Univaja, however, which played a leading role
in the search, said: "The cruelty of the crime makes clear that
Pereira and Phillips crossed paths with a powerful criminal
organization that tried at all costs to cover its tracks during the
investigation."
It said it had informed the federal police numerous times since late
2021 that there was an organized crime group operating in the Javari
Valley.
INA, a union representing workers at Funai, shared that view.
"We all know that violence in the Javari Valley is linked to a wide
chain of organized crime," it said in a separate statement.
Police said they were still searching for the boat Phillips and
Pereira were traveling in when they were last seen alive.
U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price on Friday called for
"accountability and justice," saying that Phillips and Pereira were
murdered for supporting conservation of the rainforest and native
peoples.
"Our condolences to the families of Dom Phillips and Bruno
Pereira... We must collectively strengthen efforts to protect
environmental defenders and journalists," Price said on Twitter.
(Reporting by Gabriel Araujo in Sao Paulo, Anthony Boadle in
Brasilia and Carolina Pulice in Mexico City; Editing by David Alire
Garcia, Daniel Wallis and Rosalba O'Brien)
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