Dom Phillips, a freelance journalist who has written for Brazil for The Guardian, The Washington Post, The New York Times and others, was last seen traveling deep into an illegal part of the jungle with Bruno Araujo Pereira, a former official with the Federal Funai Indigenous Agency. According to the Guardian, Mr Pereira had received a number of threats from loggers and miners in the area. Police in the town of Atalaia do Norte interrogated several fishermen as witnesses and arrested one of them, a local named Amarildo da Costa, known as “Pelado”, who was one of the last to see the two men. After searching Mr da Costa’s boat for “possible genetic material”, one of the detectives in the case said police were now investigating whether the traces of blood found were human or animal. He is suspected of engaging in illegal fishing in indigenous areas. His lawyer, Davi Oliveira, said his client was not involved in the disappearances of Mr Phillips and Mr Pereira and was only involved in legal fishing. Image: Medical examiners examine a boat with traces of blood An area that hosts the largest number of contactless tribes in the world The wild, unruly Javari region, where the couple was last seen, is home to the largest number of non-contact indigenous peoples. It has also lured cocaine smugglers, as well as poachers and fishermen who travel deep into the Javari Valley to find protected species – such as pirarucu – sold in regional markets. Javari has become increasingly tense and dangerous in recent years, and in 2019, Maxciel Pereira dos Santos, who worked with Funai to stop illegal fishing in the valley, was shot in Tabatinga. Politicians, celebrities, journalists and activists have urged Brazilian President Zaire Bolsonaro and his government to step up efforts to find Mr Phillips and Pereira. Brazilian Justice Minister Anderson Torres said he had told British Foreign Secretary Vicky Ford that Brazil would continue to search for Mr Phillips until all possibilities were met. Mr Torres said he had 300 people, two aircraft and 20 boats conducting searches in a “very difficult area”. “Even if you have 30 aircraft, a million people, it may not work,” said Mr. Torres, who was also pressured to continue the investigation at the US Summit in Los Angeles by US climate envoy John Kerry. . Image: Sian Phillips with Gareth Phillips, brothers of the missing journalist Dom Phillips “Please find our favorite house” Mr Phillip’s family urged the government to take action. Paul Sherwood, Phillips Sian’s sister’s partner, wrote on Twitter: “We ask the Brazilian authorities to send the national guard, the federal police and all the forces at their disposal to find our beloved Dom. Sian Phillips told Sky News she was concerned that there was illegal logging and drug trafficking in the area where she went missing. “I’m very worried. I’m desperately worried. It ‘s your worst fear,” he said. “We need everything for this. We want British officials to put pressure on the Brazilian authorities to act.”
