Crime

Police Confirm Remains Found Deep in Amazon Are Those of Missing Journalist Dom Phillips

Authorities are working on identifying another set of human remains, though they did not say whether they belonged to Bruno Pereria, who went missing with Phillips earlier this month

By

Olivia Jakiel

Published on June 17, 2022 08:17 PM

Veteran foreign correspondent Dom Phillips (C) talks to two indigenous men in Aldeia Maloca Papiú, Roraima State, Brazil, on November 16, 2019. - Phillips went missing while researching a book in the Brazilian Amazon's Javari Valley with respected indigenous expert Bruno Pereira. Pereira, an expert at Brazil's indigenous affairs agency, FUNAI, with deep knowledge of the region, has regularly received threats from loggers and miners trying to invade isolated indigenous groups' land. (Photo by Joao LAET / AFP) (Photo by JOAO LAET/AFP via Getty Images) — Photo: Joao LAET/AFP/Getty

Less than two weeks after British journalist Dom Phillips and Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira went missing in the Amazon, Brazilian police have confirmed the remains found in the remote rainforest earlier this week are those of Phillips. He was 57 years old.

Phillips' remains were identified using dental records, according to BBC.

Though another set of human remains have been found, authorities did not say whether they belong to Pereira; however, tests are being performed to identify the remains, per The Washington Post.

The New York Times reports that no cause of death has been determined, but police say it's "likely" that the two men were shot, per The Washington Post.

Phillips and Pereira, a staffer on leave from the Brazilian Indigenous National Foundation (FUNAI), went missing on June 5 in the remote Javari Valley bordering Peru and Colombia.

Earlier this week, fisherman Amarildo da Costa de Oliveira – who allegedly confessed to killing the men – led authorities to a grave in the jungle, where they recovered human remains.

"The remains of Dom Phillips were part of the material collected at the place indicated by Amarildo da Costa Oliveira," the police said via the New York Times.

Veteran foreign correspondent Dom Phillips visits in a mine in Roraima State, Brazil, on November 14, 2019. - Phillips went missing while researching a book in the Brazilian Amazon's Javari Valley with respected indigenous expert Bruno Pereira. Pereira, an expert at Brazil's indigenous affairs agency, FUNAI, with deep knowledge of the region, has regularly received threats from loggers and miners trying to invade isolated indigenous groups' land. (Photo by Joao LAET / AFP) (Photo by JOAO LAET/AFP via Getty Images) — JOAO LAET/AFP via Getty

Police also said their investigation suggested more people were involved in the killings, but that so far, the suspects were believed to have acted without any involvement of a criminal organization, the New York Times reports.

Phillips and Pereria were conducting research for a book in an area of the Amazon that experts believe can be dangerous and known to harbor criminals and international drug dealers, per CNN.

"We are grateful to all those who have taken part in the search, especially the indigenous groups who worked tirelessly to find evidence of the attack," Phillips' family said in a statement to BBC on Wednesday. "We thank the many people who have joined us in urging the authorities to intensify the search and those who have reached out with words of comfort and sympathy."

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Phillips' wife, Alessandra Sampaio, told the outlet in a separate statement: "Now we can bring them home and say goodbye with love," adding that the suspect's confession marked the beginning of a "quest for justice."

Phillips was a longtime contributor to The Guardian and a journalist whose work appeared in The Washington Post, The New York Times, Intercept, Financial Times, and more, according to his Twitter bio.