British journalist, 32, goes missing in Brazil leaving friends and family 'worried'

Alsharq Tribune- The UK news

A British journalist has gone missing in Brazil, with worried friends demanding that local authorities now ramp up their search. Charlotte Alice Peet, a 32-year-old freelance journalist who had written for outlets like The Times and Al Jazeera in the past, hasn’t been heard from in over a week after disappearing in the South American country.

She was last heard from on February 8, when she told a friend she was planning to travel to Rio de Janeiro before going silent. After hearing from her family, a local friend raised the alarm, prompting authorities to start investigating her disappearance.

The Brazilian Foreign Press Association admitted they were ‘worried’ about Peets whereabouts and is now demanding that Brazilian police expand their search to help her worried family.

The association’s president, Edmar Figueiredo, said in the statement: “The Brazilian Foreign Press Association (ACIE) would like to publicly express its concern about the disappearance of 32-year-old British journalist Charlotte Alice Peet and show solidarity with her family and friends.”

“She disappeared in Brazil 10 days ago.”

Mr Figueiredo revealed that the missing persons case was first flagged to police in Rio before being passed on to authorities in Sao Paulo, where Ms Peet is believed to have last been located.

The statement also reveals that Ms Peet had worked as a foreign correspondent in Brazil for two years before returning to London for a short stint before coming back this year.

Local authorities are yet to publicly comment on the case, while the British Embassy confirmed it was supporting Peet’s family. Embassy officials said in a statement: “We are assisting the family of the British citizen and in contact with local authorities.”

News of Ms Peet’s disappearance comes three years after another freelance British journalist disappeared in Brazil while reporting from the nation’s Amazon region on illegal fishing.

Dom Phillips, a prominent freelance reporter for The Guardian, was later found dead alongside his colleague Bruno Pereira, with three men later charged with their deaths. Working as a journalist in some parts of Latin America - particularly Mexico - is considered extremely dangerous work.

It’s unclear at this point whether Ms Peet’s disappearance is related to her reporting.