A British woman who disappeared during a solo kayaking expedition in the Brazilian Amazon has died.
Adventurer Emma Kelty, 43, from London, was last heard from on Wednesday September 13, days after posting about her fears of being robbed or murdered in an area used for drug trafficking.
Ivo Martins, head of the Amazonas state homicide division, told the Associated Press that her body had not been found but a teenager had been arrested and confessed to taking part in her killing.
The former head teacher’s last known location was around 150 miles west of the jungle city of Manaus, between the towns of Coari and Codajas.
A Foreign Office spokesman said on Tuesday: “We are supporting the family of a British woman following her death in Brazil and are in contact with the Brazilian authorities.”
Ms Kelty was 42 days into a 4,000-mile trip from the Amazon’s source in Peru, through Brazil and to its mouth on the Atlantic Ocean, using a GPS tool, social media and blogging to let friends follow her progress.
The previous day she had tweeted about passing boats full of men with arrows and rifles, and the stretch of river she was attempting to travel is a known route for bandits and drug traffickers, local reports say.
Some of her belongings, including the kayak, were found by the Brazilian navy on Friday, Mr Martins told local media.
Olie Hunter Smart, an explorer who completed a similar route in 2015, said Coari was known to be a dangerous area.
He had met Ms Kelty before her trip to help her plan the journey.