The speedboat sank to a depth of about 20 meters (65 feet) below the Itacoai River in northern Brazil, with six sandbags. Authorities said they were taken to the site of the sunken boat by the latest murder suspect, Jefferson da Silva Lima, or “Pelado da Dinha”, who turned himself in to police on Saturday. The latest finding comes as police announced five new suspects believed to have helped hide the couple’s bodies after their deaths. Police did not name the new suspects, adding in a brief statement that the ongoing investigations were aimed at “clarifying all the circumstances, motives and those involved in the case”. The couple disappeared in one of the most remote corners of the rainforest a few days after Pereira received threats from lumberjacks and miners in the area. The two men were in the community of Sao Rafael and were returning by boat to the nearby town of Atalaia do Norte when they disappeared. Their bodies were found 10 days later, with an autopsy suggesting they were killed by a “firearm with standard shotguns”. Three men have already been arrested. Read more: Research leads to ‘fish mafia’ Mr. Phillips has been reporting on Brazil for more than 15 years for newspapers such as The Guardian, the Washington Post, the New York Times and the Financial Times. The wild and illegal area has lured cocaine smuggling gangs, along with illegal loggers, miners and hunters.
