Ten days after the disappearance of British journalist Dom Phillips and Brazilian expert Bruno Pereira in the Amazon, the worst fears were confirmed on Wednesday: a suspect admitted to having buried their bodies and "human remains" were found at the scene of the research.
"Last night we obtained the confession of the first of the two arrested suspects (...) who recounted in detail how the crime was committed and told us where the bodies had been buried", explained during a press conference Amazonas State Federal Police Chief Eduardo Alexandre Fontes in Manaus, the largest city in the Amazon, in northern Brazil.
Read also“Brazil had seized him”: who is Dom Phillips, the journalist who disappeared in the Amazon with his guide
The policeman said that the suspect, a 41-year-old fisherman named Amarildo da Costa de Oliveira, admitted to having participated in the "crime", but without specifying his role.
The fisherman had been brought by the police to the search site to show them the precise location.
Oliveira says the two men were killed "by firearm", said the policeman, who does not rule out further arrests.
Shortly before, television cameras had filmed the suspect leaving a police station to be taken by boat to the scene of the searches carried out by the police.
Amarildo da Costa de Oliveira, nicknamed "Pelado", was arrested on June 7.
Witnesses said they saw him pass at high speed on board a boat going in the same direction as the boat of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira, before their disappearance.
“Human remains have already been found”
The second suspect, Oseney da Costa de Oliveira, known as "Dos Santos", was arrested on Tuesday, "suspected of participation in the case", according to the federal police.
According to the G1 site, it would be the brother of the first suspect.
"Excavations have been carried out on site, the excavations will continue, but human remains have already been found," added Eduardo Alexandre Fontes.
“As soon as we have been able to verify thanks to the expertise that it is indeed the remains of the bodies of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira, they will be returned to the families”.
VIDEO.
Disappeared from the Amazon: two bodies tied to a tree and journalist's belongings found
The journalist's Brazilian wife, Alessandra Sampaio, thanked in a statement "all the teams that carried out the research, especially the indigenous volunteers" whose absence from the press conference was criticized by many observers.
“Even if we are still awaiting final confirmations, this tragic outcome puts an end to the anxiety of not knowing where Dom and Bruno were.
Now we can take them home and say goodbye with love,” she said.
“Today, we also begin our fight for justice (…) We will only have peace when the necessary measures are taken to ensure that such tragedies do not happen again”.
A book about preserving the environment
The British journalist and the Brazilian expert were last seen on June 5, during an expedition to the Javari Valley area.
This region close to the border with Peru and Colombia is reputed to be very dangerous, there are multiple drug trafficking, fishing or illegal gold panning.
It has become in recent years a strategic axis for gangs of drug traffickers who transport cocaine or cannabis produced in neighboring countries by river.
Author of dozens of reports on the Amazon, Dom Phillips, 57, living in Brazil for 15 years, had once again traveled to the region as part of research for a book on the preservation of the environment.
