Suspects Confess To Killing Missing British Journalist Dom Phillips

Two suspects have confessed to killing missing British journalist, Dom Phillips.

Phillips, 57, and indigenous expert Bruno Pereira, 41, vanished in the Amazon rainforest on 5 June while they were on an assignment for a book Phillips was working on.

They were first reported missing when their boat did not make its scheduled arrival in the town of Atalaia do Norte.

According to local broadcaster Band News, the suspects - Amarildo da Costa de Oliveira and his brother Oseney da Costa de Oliveira - confessed to killing and dismembering both men.

Police are still searching for their bodies after Phillips' family were wrongly informed earlier this week that his body had been found.

Alamy

According to the Guardian, on June 13, the family were told that Phillips and Pereira's bodies had been tied to trees in the rainforest.

However, this was a case of mistaken identity and the Brazilian Ambassador to the UK was forced to apologise and retract the statement.

Fred Arruda said: "We are deeply sorry the embassy passed on to the family yesterday information that did not prove correct."

"On reflection, there was precipitation on the part of the multi-agency team, for which I wholeheartedly apologise,” Arruda added, while insisting 'the search operation will go on, with no efforts being spared'.

"Our thoughts remain with Dom, Bruno, yourselves and the other members of both families," the ambassador concluded.

Alamy

So far, authorities have been able to discover personal items belonging to the men, such as a backpack and a pair of boots belonging to Phillips, a health card, black trousers, a black sandal and another pair of boots belonging to Pereira.

Phillips' mother-in-law, Maria Lucia Farias Sampaio, had previously released a statement on Instagram, writing: "They are no longer with us. Mother nature has snatched them away with a grateful embrace.

"The material has been undone and incorporated into the earth they so loved and respected.

"Their souls have joined those of so many others who gave their lives in defence of the rainforest and Indigenous peoples.

"Today they form part of an immense and pulsating vital energy that emanates from this immense greenery that is the heart of Brazil."

Meanwhile, the former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva also hoped the pair would be ‘found quickly’.

"Phillips interviewed me for the Guardian in 2017. I hope they are fine, safe and will be found quickly,” he said on Twitter.