Editors from around the world press Brazil’s Bolsonaro to ramp up search for missing journalist

Editors and journalists from media outlets around the world have urged Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and other officials in the country to ramp up the ongoing search for missing freelance journalist Dom Phillips. 

In a letter sent on Thursday, the group wrote that they are concerned about the safety and whereabouts of Phillips and his colleague, Bruno Pereira, who was traveling with him in Brazil. The group then asked Brazilian officials to ramp up their search for the duo. 

The letter was signed by lead editors at news organizations including The Washington Post, The New York Times, NPR, Bloomberg News, The Associated Press and The Wall Street Journal. 

“As you will know from numerous press reports, Dom and Bruno have now been missing in the Amazon for more than three days,” the letter reads. “Their families, friends and colleagues have repeatedly requested assistance from local, state and national authorities and emergency services.”

“We are now very concerned by reports from Brazil that search and rescue efforts so far have been minimally resourced, with national authorities slow to offer more than very limited assistance,” the coalition’s letter continues. “We ask that you urgently step up and fully resource the effort to locate Dom and Bruno, and that you provide all possible support to their families and friends.” 

This comes three days after Phillips and Pereira were reported missing after last being seen in a remote part of Brazil’s Amazon rainforest region. 

Phillips is a freelance journalist who worked regularly for the Post and British newspaper The Guardian, He was in Brazil with Pereira, a Brazilian Indigenous advocate, while working on a new book about the country’s rainforest development, The Guardian reported. 

Authorities have arrested one individual who was allegedly seen with the duo before their disappearance, but has not been directly connected with a crime, according to the newspaper.

Bolsonaro called Phillips’s and Pereira’s reporting journey “an adventure that isn’t recommendable for anyone,” The Guardian noted.