Remains of former Mixmag editor Dom Phillips identified in Brazil

The remains of British journalist and former Mixmag editor Dom Phillips have been identified in Brazil, the BBC reports.

Three days after a suspect, fisherman Amarildo da Costa, confessed to the killing of both Phillips and highly-regarded Brazilian Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira, Brazilian police identified Phillips’ body as a result of dental records on Saturday, June 19th. The formal identification of Pereira is still ongoing.

Phillips and Pereira went missing while on a trip to one of the largest Indigenous territories in Brazil, the remote Javari Valley, on June 5th. 

On Sunday, June 19th, the Guardian reported that Brazilian authorities identified five more people connected with the killings, bringing the total number of suspects in the crime to eight.

In a statement, Dom Phillips’ wife, Alessandra Sampaio, said their family was “heartbroken”. “We are grateful to all those who have taken part in the search, especially the Indigenous groups who worked tirelessly to find evidence of the attack,” she added. “We thank the many people who have joined us in urging the authorities to intensify the search and those who have reached out with words of comfort and sympathy.”

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Phillips’ sister, Sian, said: “I think he was a leading light in journalism. He was shining a light on an area which is a global problem”.

Since 2007, Phillips’ journalistic work focused chiefly on Brazil, particularly its Indigenous communities and environment, as well as the impact of illegal Amazon deforestation on both. From 1991 to 1999, he worked at Mixmag and was editor between 1993 to 1997. As well as penning the 2009 book Super Stars DJs Here We Go!: The Rise and Fall of the Superstar DJ, he is credited with coining the term “progressive house” in a 1992 Mixmag article.

In an online piece, Mixmag said Bruno Pereira was “a former government employee whose work focused on protecting Brazil’s uncontacted tribes”. They added he “regularly received threats from loggers and miners seeking to exploit Indigenous lands.”

Earlier this month, a GoFundMe fundraiser was launched to aid the search for Phillips and Pereira. With money still being raised to support their families, you can still donate here.