Rumours that they were shot by some fisherman:
"British journalist Dom Phillips and indigenous expert Bruno Pereira have been missing since Sunday morning in the vicinity of the Vale do Javari reserve. While the police urge that they are prioritizing the search for the two men, the Civil Police in the nearby town of Atalaia do Norte have already questioned six people in connection to the disappearance — five witnesses and one suspect.
The suspect in question is 41-year-old Amarildo da Costa de Oliveira, a notorious local fisherman who also goes by the nickname “Pelado.” Pelado was arrested on Tuesday while carrying shells for a 16-gauge shotgun, 7.62mm rifle cartridges — reportedly from Peru — and a small amount of white powder believed to be cocaine. Non-police sources in Atalaia do Norte tell The Brazilian Report that Mr. Oliveira is the “prime suspect” of being involved in the disappearance, and that “everybody thinks it was him.”
Courts have deemed the government’s response to the Dom Phillips disappearance insufficient and ordered more resources.
According to witness statements, along with two other men, Pelado brandished guns at Bruno Pereira and Dom Phillips on Saturday and threatened the pair. Other statements identified his boat pursuing the men at high speed early on Sunday, before they went missing. That said, he is currently only being held on charges of possessing illegal ammunition, and police say there is not yet any evidence linking him to the case.
More curious still are the circumstances surrounding his arrest. Civil Police officers brought Pelado in using his own boat, and he promptly had two lawyers — by the name of Ronaldo Caldas and Davi Barbosa de Oliveira — serving as his defense. However, Messrs. Caldas and Oliveira are not just any old lawyers. The former is the attorney general in Atalaia do Norte, while the latter is the attorney general of the neighboring town of Benjamim Constant.
Political involvement? There is growing concern about mounting political pressure to release Pelado. Atalaia do Norte Mayor Denis Paiva was pictured outside the fisherman’s home on Tuesday, shortly before his arrest. Mr. Paiva is known to have a poor relationship with the indigenous organizations that operate in and around the Vale do Javari reserve. “Since he was elected [in 2020], he hasn’t visited us once,” says Lucas Marubo, vice-coordinator of the Union of Indigenous Peoples of the Vale do Javari (Univaja). “I’ve no doubt [the criminals] have the mayor’s support.
Pelado was set to undergo his pretrial hearing on Wednesday, in which a local prosecutor was to request his preventive detention. If accepted, that would mean he would be transferred to a state prison in Tabatinga to await trial. However, the hearing was postponed and will take place later today."
https://brazilian.report/society/2022/06/09/prosecutors-suspect-amazon-disappearance
