The family passed on the disturbing information to reporters. But the information was not accurate, the embassy acknowledged in a letter sent to the family.
“We are deeply sorry that the embassy passed on information to the family yesterday that did not turn out to be correct,” Ambassador Fred Arruda wrote. “Information received from investigators misled the Embassy’s multi-agency team.”
He said the embassy acted “hastily” in releasing the information to the family. “I apologize with all my heart,” the ambassador wrote.
The confusion was the latest misstep by officials in a search effort that has been riddled with it, critics say.
Phillips and Pereira disappeared on June 5 after venturing into the remote Javari Valley to investigate growing pressure from illegal hunters and fishers. But it wasn’t until days later that the government mobilized a full search party to search for the missing men. A helicopter, considered an essential tool in the hunt for lost men in an immense territory, was absent in the early morning.
As days passed and more information emerged, hopes that the men would be found alive faded. Pereira, who had mapped criminal activity in the territory, had previously been threatened. Then, during the expedition, an indigenous monitoring team reported that he had again been threatened. A man allegedly brandished a gun.
Police have since arrested the man and authorities say blood was found in his boat. Research teams have also recovered what appear to be human remains and sent them for genetic testing. Items that belonged to the men – boots, an ID card, a backpack – were also recovered, officials said.
“All indications are that they did something wrong to men,” Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said this week. “With the amount of time we have, eight days becoming nine, and what happened, it’s very unlikely they’re alive.”
