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The stays of British journalist Dom Phillips, who went missing while on a book research trip in the Amazon, were officially identified by Brazilian police on Friday. The grim outcome comes after the June 5 disappearance of Phillips and his guide, indigenous specialist Bruno Pereira, sparked an international outcry, with the US calling for “accountability” on Friday. Phillips was identified using “forensic dentistry coupled with forensic anthropology,” according to a statement from the Federal Police.
It stated that it was still functioning on “complete identification” of the unearthed remains, which could include Pereira’s, who had received multiple death threats.
Phillips, 57, and Pereira, 41, went missing in a remote region of the rainforest known for illegal mining, fishing, and logging.
On Wednesday, ten days later, a suspect named Amarildo da Costa de Oliveira – known as “Pelado” – led police to a location where he claimed to have buried carcasses near the city of Atalaia do Norte, where the pair had been travelling by boat.
Human remains discovered at the site were brought to Brasilia on Thursday evening for identifier by forensic experts.
Earlier Friday, police stated that the perpetrators “acted alone, without the presence of an intellectual author or criminal organisation behind the crime.”
“The investigations continue, and there are indications of the involvement of more people” in the murders, the statement added.
Activists blame President Jair Bolsonaro for letting commercial exploitation of the Amazon at the expense of the environment and law and order.
Bolsonaro, for his part, sought to place blame on the men themselves for embarking on a “reckless” trip in a neighbourhood where Phillips was “disliked.”
‘A formidable criminal organisation’
Phillips, a longtime benefactor to The Guardian and other leading international newspaper articles, was working with Pereira on a book about sustainable development in the Amazon.
Pereira, a specialist at Brazil’s indigenous entanglements agency FUNAI, had received numerous threats from loggers and miners interested in isolated Indigenous land.
The Univaja Indigenous Peoples’ Association, which assisted in the search for the men, disputed the police conclusion that the killers acted alone.
“These are not just two murderers, but an organised group that meticulously planned the crime,” Univaja said in a statement.
It claimed that authorities had ignored lots of complaints about criminal gangs’ activities in the area.
Univaja stated that it filed a report in April alleging that “Pelado” was engaged in illegal fishing.
He had previously been accused of “being the guilty party of gun attacks in 2018 and 2019 against a FUNAI base,” the organisation for which Pereira worked.
