Two bodies found in Brazil during search for missing British journalist Dom Phillips
Two bodies have reportedly been found in Brazil amid a search for missing British journalist Dom Phillips and indigenous expert Bruno Pereira.
Phillips, 57, and Bruno Araújo Pereira, a Brazilian adviser at the Univaja association of people in the Vale do Javari Indigenous territory, were last seen earlier in June in the Sao Rafael community.
Items of clothing and personal belongings were discovered by Brazilian police this morning, with local groups saying both had been receiving threats over their work with indigenous people, fighting illegal fishing, logging, mining and drug trafficking.
Phillips was reporting on Brazil for 15 years for several media outlets, including The Guardian, and has been working on a book on the environment with the help of the Alicia Patterson Foundation.
The pair were due to head to Atalaia do Norte, the most western municipality in the Amazonas region, from the Vale do Javari, Brazil’s second-largest Indigenous territory, but never made it.
However, later on Monday Brazilian police denied local reports that the bodies found were of Phillips and Pereira.
The BBC reported that officials said so far they had discovered personal items owned by the pair, in addition to “biological material” that was still being examined.
More to follow..