Brazilian police have arrested a second suspect in the disappearance of British journalist Dom Phillips and Brazilian indigenous official Bruno Pereira in a remote Amazon area. Mr Phillips, 57, and Brazilian indigenous expert Bruno Pereira, 41, vanished from a remote part of the Amazon last week and are believed to have last been seen early on June 5 in the Sao Rafael community.
The suspect, Oseney da Costa de Oliveira, 41, is a fisherman and a brother of the man so far considered by police as the main suspect in the case, Amarildo da Costa de Oliveira, also 41, nicknamed Pelado. Federal police also said in a statement they seized ammunition and an oar, but did not say why the items were confiscated, who they belonged to or where they were found.
Mr De Oliveira told The Associated Press last Friday that he had visited Pelado in jail and was told that local police had tortured Pelado on his own boat, which was also seized by authorities. Federal police did not immediately respond to an AP request asking why Oseney da Costa de Oliveira was named in its statement, which is not a standard procedure of the force.
Yesterday (Tuesday), the Brazilian ambassador to the UK apologised to Mr Phillips' family after they were incorrectly told his body had been found. According to the Guardian, the family received a call from an aide to Brazil’s ambassador for the UK early on Monday saying their bodies had been discovered tied to trees in the rainforest.
However, Mr Phillips’ brother-in-law, Paul Sherwood, confirmed to the PA news agency that ambassador Fred Arruda had written to the family to say the statement was incorrect. Mr Arruda said: “We are deeply sorry the embassy passed on to the family yesterday information that did not prove correct.”
He went on to say the embassy had been “misled” by information it had received from “investigating officials”. Mr Arruda insisted: “The search operation will go on, with no efforts being spared.”
He added: “Our thoughts remain with Dom, Bruno, yourselves and the other members of both families.” Brazilian Federal Police said the latest development in the search for the two men was the discovery of their personal items.
In a statement, they said the objects included a backpack and a pair of boots belonging to Mr Phillips, as well as a health card, black trousers, a black sandal and a pair of boots belonging to Mr Pereira. On Saturday, separate reports emerged that police had discovered human matter in the Itaquai River, near Atalaia do Norte’s port.
Authorities previously said blood found on a suspect’s boat had been sent for analysis. A GoFundMe set up by friends of the men passed hit 36,704 dollars (£30,500) on Tuesday evening.
