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Police said they had mapped the area of an isolated Indian island where tribal members were seen burying the body of an American adventurer and a Christian missionary after apparently killing him. with arrows this month.
But before attempting to find the body of 26-year-old John Allen Chau, authorities must learn from experts "nuances in the behavior of the group and its behavior, especially in this type of violent behavior," said Dependra Pathak. Director General of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Police, where North Sentinel Island is located.
On Friday, during their visit to the vicinity of the island, investigators spotted four or five residents of North Sentinel moving in the area at a distance of about 1,600 feet from a boat and have studied their behavior for several hours, said Pathak.
"We have more or less identified the site and the region in general," Pathak said by telephone on Saturday.
The Indian authorities are struggling to find a way to find the remains of Chau, who was killed by residents of the northern Sentinels. He apparently shot him with arrows and then buried his body on the beach.
Friday's visit was the second boat trip of the week by a team of policemen and officials from the forestry, tribal social services and coastguard departments, Pathak said. Officials took away two of the seven people arrested for helping Chau get closer to the island to determine his itinerary and the circumstances of his death. On the morning of November 17, fishermen who had taken Chau to the shore saw members of the tribe dragging and burying his body.
Officials do not usually visit the North Sentinel area, where people live as their ancestors did thousands of years ago. The only contacts, occasional "gift" visits during which bananas and coconuts were passed by small teams of officials and scholars who stayed in the waves, were there Years ago.
Indian ships monitor the waters around the island, trying to ensure that strangers do not approach the Sentinelese, who have repeatedly indicated that they wish to remain alone.
Chau went "to share the love of Jesus," said Mary Ho, International Director of All Nations. The organization based in Kansas City, Missouri, participated in Chau's training, discussed the risks with him and sent him on a mission to support him in his "call to life," she added.
"He wanted to have a long-term relationship and, if possible, be accepted by them and live among them," she said.
When a young boy tried to hit him with an arrow on the first day of his stay on the island, Chau returned to the fishing boat that he had planned to wait off. The arrow, he writes, struck a Bible that he carried.
"Why did a little kid have to shoot me today?" he wrote in his notes, that he left it to the fishermen before coming back the next morning. "His shrill voice still sounds in my head."
Police said Chau knew that the Sentinels resisted any contact with strangers, throwing arrows and spears at passing helicopters and killing fishermen drifting on their shores. His notes, reported Thursday in Indian newspapers and confirmed by the police, clearly indicate that he knew he could be killed.
"I do not want to die," wrote Chau, who seemed to want to bring Christianity to the islanders. "Would it be wiser to leave and let someone else go on?" No, I do not think so. "
Chau paid the fishermen to take him near North Sentinel, using a kayak to row ashore and bringing gifts, including a football and a fish.
The Indian government lifted the restrictions on travel to the island in August, said Ho. She said that she could not say why Chau had gotten there as he had done but that he had carefully planned.
All nations have contacted the US State Department, said Ho. She does not know yet if it will be possible to recover Chau's body.
"We are just in pain and shocked by her death," she said. "At the same time, we consider it a real honor to have worked with him, to be part of his journey."
Scholars know almost nothing about the island, the number of its inhabitants to the spoken language. The Andamans once had similar groups, long-term migrants from Africa and South-East Asia who had settled in the island chain, but their numbers have declined considerably in the last century due to illness, intermarriage and migration.
Five fishermen, a friend of Chau and a local tourist guide were arrested for helping Chau.
Chau, whose friends have described him as a fervent Christian, studied at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Previously, he had lived in southwestern Washington State and had gone to Vancouver Christian High School.
In a post on Instagram, her family said she was crying like "her beloved son, brother, uncle and best friend". The family also claimed to have forgiven his killers.
The authorities claim that Chau arrived in the area on October 16 and stayed on another island while he was preparing to travel to North Sentinel. It was not his first time in the area because he had visited the Andaman Islands in 2015 and 2016.
With the help of the friend, Chau paid fishermen $ 325 to take him there, according to Pathak.
After the fishermen realized that Chau had been killed, they left for Port Blair, the capital of the chain of islands, where they announced the news to a friend of Chau, who informed his family, said Pathak.
Associated Press editors Tim Sullivan in New Delhi and Jennifer McDermott in Providence, Rhode Island, contributed to this report.
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