Missionary and cyclist George da Silva de Souza, 63, who disappeared near the border between Brazil and Essequibo, in Guyana, was found weakened this Tuesday (30) in an indigenous area in the neighboring country. He had last contacted his family on March 27th.
The information was confirmed by the cyclist’s son, Gregori de Souza, and by the Civil Defense of Uiramutã, a municipality in Roraima that borders Guyana. George was on a bicycle expedition alone that started in Chuí (RS), in the extreme south of the country, and was destined for Monte Caburaí, the most extreme point in the North of Brazil, in Roraima (understand more below).
“The first information that was given to us is that he will be taken to Georgetown [capital da Guiana] tomorrow”, informed George’s son.
He was found by a group of indigenous hunters and was “very weakened”, according to the coordinator of the Municipal Civil Defense of Uiramutã, Julimar Sena. The indigenous people took the cyclist to the Pipillipai community, which is difficult to access, according to the family.
George made a video call with a friend and also contacted family members via phone call. His wife and son, who live in Bertioga (SP), have been in Boa Vista since last week to follow the investigation into the disappearance.
“He said he weighs 46 kg. When they rescued him, they weighed him there and he’s really thin. He said he was lying in a hammock in the jungle, giving himself up, waiting for the end because he no longer had the strength to even walk and It was found by a group of hunters from that location,” said Gregori.
A retired soldier from the Brazilian Air Force, Geeorge began the expedition on April 19 last year in Arroio Chuí, which is on the border between Brazil and Uruguay, known for being the most extreme point in the south of Brazilian territory.
He arrived in Uiramutã, in the North of Roraima, on March 25th and from there he would continue his journey cycling to Monte Caburaí.
To g1, the son explained that his father must receive medical attention and in the next few days he will return to Brazil, after complying with bureaucratic regulations in the neighboring country for entering the territory without authorization. The family is in contact with the government of Guyana and an aircraft is expected to be sent to the community to take him to hospital.
“He will have to sign some papers, there will be a whole process, but they have already told us that there will be no sanctions for him, he will not be arrested, he will not be detained or anything like that because it is such a unique issue and an extreme humanitarian issue.”
Before disappearing, George said he would get in touch when he passed by an indigenous community. The last person he had spoken to was his wife, via video call, at around 8:30 am on March 27th.
At the time of his disappearance, Gregori said that his father had always done this type of expedition, but this would be the most complex. He maintained frequent contact with his family throughout the trip.
“My father didn’t take any geolocation equipment, he did some prior mapping using Google Maps. The mapping he did was along the stretch he would pass through, in the communities, and he only took a compass. Other than that he didn’t take any equipment,” he said.
With no news, the family filed two missing reports. The first, made by the brother, was registered on April 11th at the Civil Police virtual police station. The second was registered by his wife on Monday (22) at the 1st Police District, after the family received information that he had been seen in Guyana.
The deadline given by the missionary to the family to return from Monte Caburaí would be May 8th. Access to Monte Caburaí is difficult, there are no roads and only via trails in the middle of the dense forest.
The river area that borders Brazil and Guyana, where the Maú River and Uailã River are located, is also difficult to access. To cross the rivers, you need a boat and the help of local indigenous people.
With the hypothesis of the crossing, the Roraima Civil Police informed that it would not have jurisdiction to carry out searches in the neighboring country.
The Firefighters reported that they were maintaining direct contact with the family members and that they advised them to contact the Guyanese Consulate in Roraima so that the teams could carry out searches in the neighboring country, if it was confirmed that he was in Guyanese territory.
In 2002, 21 years ago, George went on a similar expedition that lasted 79 days. At the time, he left Uiramutã on a bicycle and went to Chuí. George lives with his wife in Bertioga, in the interior of São Paulo.
