Bodies of missing British journalist and Brazilian guide 'found tied to a tree' in Amazon

13 June 2022, 13:51 | Updated: 13 June 2022, 15:34

The bodies of missing British journalist Dom Phillips and his guide were found "tied to a tree" during a search of the Amazon rainforest, his brother-in-law has said.

Paul Sherwood, Mr Phillips' brother-in-law, said his family had been informed by the Brazilian ambassador to the UK that the bodies of the British journalist and his guide Bruno Araújo Pereira had been found tied to a tree.

Mr Phillips, 57, and Mr Pereira, 41, vanished from a remote part of the Amazon last week and are believed to have last been seen early on Sunday June 5 in the Sao Rafael community.

Mr Sherwood told the Guardian: "He said he wanted us to know that ... they had found two bodies.

"He didn’t describe the location and just said it was in the rainforest and he said they were tied to a tree and they hadn’t been identified yet."

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Conflicting reports came from Brazil on Monday after family members of Mr Phillips, including his wife, confirmed his body had been found.

However, Brazil's federal police released a statement denying reports that the bodies of Mr Phillips and Mr Pereira had been found in the Amazon.

Brazilian journalist André Trigueiro said Mr Phillips' wife, Alessandra Sampaio, had informed him of the tragic news.

He wrote on Twitter: "Alessandra, wife of Dom Phillips, has just informed me that the bodies of her husband and indigenist Bruno Pereira have been found.

"Alessandra made contact again saying that she had just received a call from the PF informing that the bodies need to be examined. The British Embassy had already communicated to Bishop Phillips' brothers that they were the bodies of the journalist and the indigenist. Now everyone is waiting for the expertise."

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Mr Phillips, 57, was last seen on Sunday June 5 in the Sao Rafael community where he planned to head towards a remote part of the jungle with Mr Pereira, a former official with federal indigenous agency Funai.

They vanished when they were out on assignment for a book Mr Phillips was working on.

Mr Pereira was a regular guide and friend and they would interview indigenous people during the expedition.

Police have arrested a local fisherman called Amarildo da Costa who is understood to have been among the last people to see the two men alive.

Detectives said blood was found on a boat belonging to the local fisherman.

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A number of the pair's personal belongings were discovered submerged in a river on Sunday afternoon.

A backpack, laptop and other personal belongings of the men were carried by police officers by boat to Atalaia do Norte, the closest city to the search.

In a statement on Sunday night, police said they had identified the items as the belongings of both missing men, including a health card and clothes of Bruno Pereira, the Brazilian Indigenous expert.

The disappearance of the two men comes amid a background of conflict between illegal logging and mining interests and drugs gangs, and indigenous groups and people who want to protect the rainforest.

Mr Phillips is based in the city of Salvador, in Brazil, and has reported on the country for 15 years.