Hope of finding Dom Phillips alive is gone, says mother-in-law

Family members of a British journalist who is missing in Brazil have told of their heartbreak as hopes of finding him alive fade.

Dom Phillips, 57, disappeared last Sunday alongside indigenous official Bruno Pereira, 41, during a research trip to Brazil’s Javari Valley in the remote western Amazon.

Mr Phillips’ mother-in-law appeared to have come to terms with the fact that the veteran foreign correspondent would not be found alive, as she took to Instagram to write: "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."

She went on to say: "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."

Mr Phillips’ wife Alessandra Sampaio reposted the statement and said she agreed.

Earlier this week, Mrs Sampaio said there was still "some small hope" of finding Mr Phillips and Mr Pereira alive. In an emotional video she urged Brazilian authorities to do more to find "the love of her life".

Concerns have been growing over the fate of the journalist and his travel companion. The pair were last seen last Sunday morning near the Javari Valley Indigenous Territory, which sits in an area the size of Portugal bordering Peru and Colombia.

The two men were in the Sao Rafael community. They were returning by boat to the nearby city of Atalaia do Norte but never arrived.

The army, the navy, civil defense, state police and Indigenous volunteers have been mobilised in the search.

On Saturday, federal police said they were still analysing human matter found the day before in the area where they disappeared.

The only known suspect in the disappearances is fisherman Amarildo da Costa de Oliveira, also known as Pelado, who is under arrest.

According to accounts by Indigenous people who were with Pereira and Phillips, he brandished a rifle at them the day before the pair disappeared. He denies any wrongdoing.