Phillips and indigenous Brazilian expert Bruno Pereira disappeared in the Amazon on June 5. This week, a local fisherman admitted that he killed the two and then pointed out a place where he had buried their bodies.
The body parts found at the site were taken to the capital Brasilia, where they were examined. According to the federal police, Philips was identified using the teeth. Pereira has not yet been identified.
The fisherman claims to have shot Phillips and Pereira to death. The man tells the police that he acted on his own and not on the orders of anyone else. However, the police believe that more people were involved and that more arrests are to be expected.
Phillips and Pereira are said to have traveled by boat during a reportage trip for an upcoming book on environmental protection.
In the area around the Javari Valley where they disappeared, both loggers and miners work, who are said to have regularly threatened the indigenous expert because they try to gain access to land belonging to the rainforest’s indigenous people. The motive for the act is suspected to be connected to illegal fishing in the reserve.
The journalist, together with the indigenous expert, had also been exposed to threats in the field, according to two organizations working for indigenous peoples’ rights.