Dom Phillips’ wife has said “now we can bring them home and say goodbye with love” after human remains were found in the search for the missing British journalist and indigenous expert Bruno Pereira in the Amazon.
Brazil’s justice minister Anderson Torres said remains were found near where the pair disappeared on June 5, with police saying a suspect led investigators to the location after confessing to the fatal shooting.
The remains are yet to be identified.
In a statement, Mr Phillips’ wife Alessandra Sampaio said: “Although we are still awaiting definitive confirmations, this tragic outcome puts an end to the anguish of not knowing Dom and Bruno’s whereabouts.
“Now we can bring them home and say goodbye with love.
“Today, we also begin our quest for justice. I hope that the investigations exhaust all possibilities and bring definitive answers on all relevant details as soon as possible.”
It comes after former Tory prime minister Theresa May insisted the UK must do “everything it can” to press Brazilian authorities to uncover the truth about the disappearance.
Mrs May made the plea on Wednesday to Boris Johnson in the House of Commons after police arrested a second suspect in connection with the case.
A suspect, a fisherman who had clashed with Pereira over his efforts to combat illegal fishing in indigenous territory, led police to a remote burial site where the remains were unearthed, detective Eduardo Fontes told a news conference.
The news marks a grim conclusion to a case that has raised global alarm, hung over President Jair Bolsonaro at a regional summit as well as stirring the concern in the British Parliament.
Mr Phillips, a freelance reporter who has written for the Guardian and the Washington Post, was doing research for a book on the trip with Mr Pereira.
They were in a remote jungle area near the border with Colombia and Peru called the Javari Valley, which is home to the world's largest number of uncontacted indigenous people. The region has been invaded by illegal fishermen, hunters, loggers, and miners, and police call it a key route for drug trafficking.
Police had previously identified their primary suspect as fisherman Amarildo da Costa, known as "Pelado," who was arrested last week on weapons charges. His brother Oseney da Costa, 41, or "Dos Santos," was taken into custody on Tuesday night.
Detective Fontes told journalists the "first suspect" had confessed and led police to the human remains, but the other suspect in custody had denied any role despite incriminating evidence.
Police are investigating the involvement of a third person and further arrests are possible, he added.
The Costa brothers were seen meeting on the Itacoai river just moments after Mr Phillips and Mr Pereira passed by on June 5, and they headed toward the riverside town of Atalaia do Norte, a witness told federal police in a report reviewed by Reuters.
The police report also said witnesses heard Mr Pereira say he had received threats from Amarildo da Costa.
A former official for indigenous affairs agency Funai, Mr Pereira had been instrumental in stopping illegal gold mining, fishing and poaching along rivers inhabited by indigenous tribes of the Javari Valley.
News of the men's disappearance echoed globally, with human rights organizations, environmentalists and press advocates urging Bolsonaro to step up the search after a slow start.
Bolsonaro, who once faced tough questioning from Mr Phillips at a news conference over weakening environmental law enforcement, said last week that the two men "were on an adventure that is not recommended."
On Wednesday, Bolsonaro suggested that Mr Phillips had made enemies by writing about environmental issues.
