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RIO DE JANEIRO – Brazilian authorities have incorrectly reported the family of a British journalist missing in the Amazon jungle that two bodies had been found, according to an apology sent by relatives to the Brazilian ambassador to the United Kingdom on Tuesday.
The family of Dom Phillips, a contributor to The Guardian and a former contract writer for The Washington Post, received a message Monday morning from Brazilian embassy officials asking to speak. Phillips’ brother-in-law Paul Sherwood was told that two bodies had been found tied to a tree. Officials suspected, but had not yet confirmed, that the bodies belonged to Phillips and his traveling companion, Bruno Pereira, a longtime official of the Brazilian Indigenous Affairs Agency.
The family says bodies were found in search of a journalist and a colleague
The family passed on the disturbing information to reporters. But the information was inaccurate, the embassy acknowledged in a letter to the family.
“We deeply regret that the embassy transmitted information to the family yesterday that was not correct,” Ambassador Fred Arruda wrote. “Information received from investigating officials deceived the embassy’s multi-agency team.”
He said the embassy had acted with “haste” in communicating the information to the family. “I sincerely apologize,” the ambassador wrote.
According to critics, the confusion was the last mistake of officials in a search effort that has been full of them.
Hopes are fading, anger is growing over the disappearance of a British journalist in Brazil
Phillips and Pereira disappeared on June 5 after venturing into the remote Javari Valley to investigate growing pressure from poachers and illegal fishermen. But it was not until days later that the government mobilized a full research group to search for the missing men. A helicopter, seen as a critical tool for hunting lost men in a mass territory, was absent in the early hours.
As the days went by, and additional information emerged, hopes were dashed that the men would be alive. Pereira, who had been mapping criminal activity in the territory, had previously been threatened. Then, during the expedition, an indigenous surveillance team reported that he was threatened again. A man allegedly brandished a pistol.
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Police have since arrested the man and officials say blood has been found on his boat. Search groups have also recovered what appear to be human remains and sent them for genetic testing. Objects belonging to the men (boots, ID card, backpack) were also recovered, officials said.
“All indications are that they did something wrong to the men,” Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said this week. “With the amount of time we have, eight days become nine, and what has happened is very unlikely that we will find them alive.”