Suspect admits to murder of missing journalist, indigenous advocate in Brazil

A suspect held over the disappearance of a British journalist and an Indigenous affairs expert who had been missing in Brazil has confessed to their murder, CNN reported on Wednesday.

During a Wednesday night press conference, Brazilian authorities announced that local fisherman Amarildo da Costa de Oliveira admitted he had killed international correspondent Dom Phillips and Brazilian researcher Bruno Araújo Pereira. The two had been missing since June 5 after being last spotted near Sao Rafael, a community in the northeast region of Brazil.

The suspect reportedly confessed to the slaying Tuesday night and took police to the location of the bodies in a remote part of the Amazon on Wednesday.

A second suspect has also been arrested over the disappearance of the men, according to CNN.

Phillips, who was writing a book about Amazon rainforest conservation, and, Pereira, who had been threatened by illegal fish and wildlife poachers before, reportedly both received death threats in the days leading up to going missing.

The men’s disappearance has made international headlines with journalists and human rights organizations putting pressure on Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro to locate the duo.

“We are now very concerned by reports from Brazil that search and rescue efforts so far have been minimally resourced, with national authorities slow to offer more than very limited assistance,” a coalition of media professionals wrote in a letter to Bolsonaro last week.

They added, “We ask that you urgently step up and fully resource the effort to locate Dom and Bruno, and that you provide all possible support to their families and friends.”

Results of forensics exams are still pending to confirm the bodies are those of Phillips and Pereira, ABC News noted.