Divers from the fire department of Brazil A backpack and a laptop were found this Sunday in a remote area of the Amazon where indigenous expert Bruno Pereira and British journalist Dom Phillips disappeared a week ago.
The backpack was tied to a tree that was partially submerged, said a firefighter in Atalaia do Norte, the closest city to the search area, which is near the Valle del Javarí indigenous territory. It is flood season in the region and part of the jungle is flooded.
Federal Police agents moved the objects by boat to Atalaia do Norte in the afternoon.
The local indigenous association, for which Pereira was working when he disappeared, confirmed that fire divers found a backpack but could not determine at this time who it belonged to. There are only a few low-income riverside communities in the area, where it is unusual to find devices such as laptops.
Previously, the Police found traces of blood in the boat of a fisherman, who is the only suspect arrested, as well as organic matter of apparent human origin in the river. Both materials undergo forensic analysis. No further details were released.
Pereira, 41, and Phillips, 57, were last seen near the entrance to the indigenous territory, which borders Peru and Colombia. Both returned alone in a boat on the Itaguaí River to Atalaia do Norte but never arrived.
The area has been the site of violent conflict between fishermen, poachers and government agents. The violence has been on the rise at a time when drug gangs are vying for control of the waterways used to transport cocaine, although the Itaguaí is not known to be a smuggling route.