One of 2 bodies found in Brazil's Amazon identified as missing British journalist Dom Phillips
Federal police said Friday that one of the two bodies found deep in Brazil's Amazon have been identified as belonging to British journalist Dom Phillips.
The remains of two people were found Wednesday near the city of Atalaia do Norte after fisherman Amarildo da Costa de Oliveira, 41, nicknamed Pelado, confessed he killed Phillips, 57, and Brazilian Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira, 41.
He told officers he used a firearm to commit the crime and led police to a spot in the remote forest to locate the remains.
Police announced the forensic identification of Phillips' remains in a statement. They still have not identified Pereira's remains.
The discovery ended more than a week of searching for the missing pair, who went missing June 5.
They had been last seen on their boat in a river near the entrance of the Javari Valley Indigenous Territory, which borders Peru and Colombia. That area has seen violent conflicts between fishermen, poachers and government agents.
"We found the bodies three kilometers (nearly two miles) into the woods," federal investigator, Eduardo Alexandre Fontes said in a news conference earlier this week, adding that rescue teams traveled about one hour and forty minutes on the river and 25 more into the woods to reach the burial spot.
On Tuesday, police said they had arrested a second suspect in connection with the disappearance. He was identified as Oseney da Costa de Oliveira, 41, a fisherman and a brother of Pelado, who police already had characterized as their main suspect.
Police investigators said Wednesday that de Oliveira had not confessed to any participation in the crime, but added they had evidence against him.