Dom Phillips: Boat used by murdered British journalist and local expert found sunken with sandbags | World news

The boat used by the murdered British journalist Dom Phillips and the Brazilian country expert Bruno Pereira has been found to travel through the Amazon rainforest, police said as they continue to investigate the double murder.

The speedboat was submerged about 20 meters (65ft) deep under the Itacoai River in northern Brazil, weighing six sandbags.

Authorities said they were led to the scene of the sinking ship by the last suspect in the killings, Jeferson da Silva Lima, or ‘Pelado da Dinha’, who handed himself over to police on Saturday.

The last find comes as police have released five new suspects they believe helped hide the couple’s bodies after they died.

Police did not name the new suspects, adding in a brief statement that ongoing investigations aim to “clarify all the circumstances, motives and those involved in the case”.

The pair disappeared in one of the farthest corners of the rainforest just days after Mr Pereira received threats from loggers and miners in the region.

The two men were in the Sao Rafael community and were returning by boat to the nearby town of Atalaia do Norte when they disappeared.

Harren bodies were found 10 days laterwith an autopsy suggests they were killed by a “firearm with typical hunting ammunition”.

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Mr Phillips has reported on Brazil for more than 15 years for newspapers including The Guardian, the Washington Post, the New York Times and the Financial Times.

He had been researching a book about the Amazon and its environmental defenders.

The wild and lawless region has lured cocaine-smuggling gangs, along with illegal loggers, miners and hunters.