“Items were found that belonged to the missing person: a medical card, black trousers, a black sandal and a pair of boots that belonged to Bruno Pereira, as well as a pair of boots and a backpack that belonged to Dom Phillips and contained personal clothing,” explained the federal police on Sunday.
According to the fire department, the items were found “near the house” of a 41-year-old suspect. Investigators arrested him on Wednesday. According to the police, drugs and cartridges for an assault rifle were found on him during a random check. Witnesses said they saw the man chasing Phillips and Pereira’s boat. Traces of blood were later found in the man’s boat. Authorities then began searching the area around his home.
The 57-year-old Phillips, who writes regularly for the British “Guardian” as a freelance journalist, had been researching a book about violence against indigenous people in the Javari Valley near the border with Peru together with Pereira, an expert on indigenous peoples. The two men have been missing for a week. Gold miners, poachers and drug gangs are active in the region. According to indigenous organizations, the men had previously been threatened.
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