Cops: 'Stupid' Move by Killers of Adventurer Led to Arrests

Brazil police say bandits accidentally sent out distress signal on Emma Kelty's GPS
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 22, 2017 8:25 AM CDT
Cops: 'Stupid' Move by Killers of Adventurer Led to Arrests
Emma Kelty.   (Twitter)

More details are emerging about the murder of British adventurer Emma Kelty during her trip along the Amazon in Brazil, and they're of the worst kind. But police also revealed that her killers made a dumb move that alerted authorities to the crime, reports the Telegraph. Police initially believed that Kelty herself sent out a distress signal from her GPS device, but now they say one of the bandits involved in her death accidentally pressed the button while trying to figure out how to work the device. "Stupid," says a local police official. The signal led police to a riverside village, and they were eventually able to arrest three suspects. Three more are at large, and a seventh man was shot to death, reportedly by a rival gang out to steal Kelty's gear from him. A local resident says the gang member provided details of the crime before his death.

It seems that the bandits came across Kelty's remote campsite and incorrectly assumed she was a drug trafficker. "When the men saw her tent they thought it belonged to a Colombian with drugs, so they started firing from about 50 meters away," the resident tells the Telegraph. He says Kelty was hit in the arm and began screaming for help, and the bandits then moved in. According to the resident's account, the men cut off her hair, demanding to know where the drugs were, then sexually abused her, cut her throat, and dumped her body in the river. Authorities have found Kelty's kayak but not her body. The 43-year-old former school headmistress was about 40 days into a 4,000-mile trip, notes the BBC, and she planned to be on the river five or six months. The Sun has a video of Kelty getting ready to embark on the trip. "I can't wait," she says, smiling. (More Amazon stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X