Suspect confesses to burying bodies of UK journalist, Brazilian guide in Amazon
- Human remains found in area where Dom Phillips and his guide Bruno Pereira disappeared more than a week ago
- Suspect Amarildo da Costa de Oliveira took police to where the bodies were buried, as brother is also arrested
One of two men arrested over the disappearance of a British journalist and an Indigenous expert in the Brazilian Amazon confessed to having buried the pair in the jungle, federal police said after human remains were found.
Dom Phillips and his guide Bruno Pereira went missing June 5 in a remote part of the Amazon that is rife with environmental crimes including illegal mining, fishing and logging, as well as drug trafficking.
Police did not specify whether the suspect, Amarildo da Costa de Oliveira – nicknamed Pelado – also confessed to killing the pair, saying only that he “recounted in detail the crime that was committed and indicated the place where he buried the bodies”.
Eduardo Alexandre Fontes, head of federal police in Brazil’s Amazonas state, said during a press conference on Wednesday that the location was “very difficult to reach”.
“Excavations have been carried out on site. The excavations will continue, but human remains have already been found,” he said.
“As soon as we have been able to verify with the help of expertise that it is indeed the remains of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira, they will be returned to the families.”