Two brothers have confessed to killing missing British journalist Dom Phillips and his companion Bruno Pereira in the Amazon rainforest, it has been reported.
It comes as Brazilian authorities have said that human remains have been dug up close to the site were they are searching for the two men.
The suspects Amarildo da Costa de Oliveira and his brother Oseney da Costa de Oliveira have admitted dismembering the men, local broadcaster Band News reported on Wednesday.
One of the men is believed to have confessed they had "killed, quartered and set fire" to the bodies after witnesses saw them chasing the journalist and his colleague's speedboat.
But the brothers deny any wrongdoing and have claimed military police tortured them to get a confession, it is also reported.
The two men, who are being held by authorities in Atalaia do Norte, the nearest town, then told Brazil's Federal Police where they abandoned the bodies after burning them, R7 reports.
Brazil's Justice Minister Anderson Torres has now tweeted over "human remains" being found in the investigation.
He wrote: "I have just been informed by the federal police that 'human remains were found at the site where excavations were being carried out.' They will undergo forensic analysis. Later today, those responsible for the investigations will hold a press conference in Manaus."
Reports citing federal police sources say that the men were killed after photographing the suspects fishing illegally.
Band Jornalismo reported the men "surrendered and [were] taken to a ditch, where they were killed and their bodies quartered and set on fire".
The federal police had said in a statement on Wednesday they were still searching for Mr Phillips and Mr Pereira in what they described as a homicide investigation, following the arrest of two suspects in the case.
Reuters witnesses saw police take one of the suspects out on the river where the men vanished.
Authorities wrongly told the family of Dom Phillips that his body had been found and the Brazilian ambassador to the UK has been forced to apologise in a letter.
Mr Phillips, 57, and Mr Pereira, 41, went missing in a remote part of the Amazon last week, with the family informed that their bodies has been found tied to trees in the rainforest.
According to reports in the Guardian, the family of Phillips received a call on June 13 to tell them of the discovery, but officials only suspected the bodies belonged to the missing men and never confirmed their identities.
However, Mr Phillips’ brother-in-law, Paul Sherwood, confirmed that ambassador Fred Arruda had written to the family to say the statement was incorrect.
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”.
Arruda added: “The search operation will go on, with no efforts being spared. 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 Pereira.
On June 11, separate reports emerged that police had discovered human matter in the River Itaquai, near Atalaia do Norte’s port.
Authorities previously said blood found on a suspect’s boat had been sent for analysis.
Amarildo da Costa de Oliveira, 41, also known as Pelado, was earlier named as a suspect and arrested for allegedly carrying a firearm without a permit, a common practice in the region.
Police did not clarify why he was being treated as a suspect, but he is thought to have been among a group of men who threatened the missing men near an indigenous territory on June 4.
Mr Phillips and Mr Pereira vanished on June 5 while returning from a four-day trip in the Javari region of the Amazon.
The men are reported to have received threats upon arrival in the area. They travelled in the Javari Valley while researching a book about the conversation of the Amazon.
