Really interesting stuff. The Amazon is a really large place to try to find an airplane.
Yes it is - I'm sure the odds are very much against ever finding a trace of poor Paul Redfern. Interesting is one thought that he 'nearly made it' to Rio (wonder how that got figured), so the wreck could be relatively near 'civilization'.
Read the article at the link that Chris provided - good story in there of a pilot who claimed to have spotted his wrecked airplane many times, and that it had sunk lower into quicksand every time he saw it until only the cabin windows (windshield I guess he meant) glinted in the sun.
So many tales of the man and / or plane being spotted but captive / injured / etc., what to believe. Seems like if any of that were true someone would have checked it out and come back with some proof in all the years he was looked for.
Redfern was the lost aviator of fame for 10 years - then Earhart was lost and all the hoopla swung her way and then he was mostly forgotten.