The search for an Indigenous expert and a journalist who disappeared in a remote area of Brazil’s Amazon cis continuing following the discovery of a backpack, laptop and other personal belongings submerged in a river.
The items were taken by Federal Police officers by boat to Atalaia do Norte, the closest city to the search, and police said Sunday night they had identified the items as belonging to the missing men, including a health card and clothes of Bruno Pereira, the Brazilian Indigenous expert.
Federal police issued a statement earlier Monday denying media reports that the two men’s bodies had been found. Last week, police recovered organic matter of apparent human origin in the river, which has been sent for analysis. They haven't detailed what the material is, but President Jair Bolsonaro told local radio Monday that it was “human viscera.”
Pereira, 41, and Phillips, 57, were last seen June 5 near the entrance of the Javari Valley Indigenous Territory, which borders Peru and Colombia. They were returning alone by boat on the Itaquai to Atalaia do Norte but never arrived. The Javari Valley has seven known Indigenous groups — some only recently contacted, such as the Matis. The valley also has at least 11 uncontacted groups, making the region the largest concentration of isolated tribes in the world.Officially, the Indigenous territory has a population of about 6,300 people. Many of them live in the small urban center so their children can attend non-Indigenous public schools. They also go to the city to seek medical treatment and collect federal benefits.
One of the most valuable targets is the world’s largest freshwater fish with scales, the arapaima. It weighs up to 200 kilograms and can reach 3 meters . The fish is sold in nearby cities,.The only known suspect in the disappearances is fisherman Amarildo da Costa de Oliveira, also known as Pelado, who is under arrest. Indigenous people who were with Pereira and Phillips say he brandished a rifle at them the day before they disappeared.
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