The members
The active members of the current Inkarri Institute board, for the period 2025-2027, are as follows:
Thierry Jamin,
President
A French researcher and explorer, Thierry Jamin is a graduate of the Universities of Tours (DEUG in History-Geography, Bachelor’s degree in History and Geography, Master’s degree in Modern History) and Toulouse (DEA in Latin American History). (See also his Currículum Vitae).
Thierry is also the author of numerous books, published in France, Peru, and the United States : “L’Eldorado inca. À la recherche de Païtiti” (Paris, November 2006), “Pusharo, la memoria recobrada de los Incas” (Lima, November 2007), “L’aventurier de la cité perdue” (Paris, March 2014), “Machu Picchu et la chambre secrète” (France, March 2020), and “L’affaire des momies non humaines de Nazca. Un événement historique” (France, October 2020), “Lost Paititi and the Non-Human Remains of Nazca” (United States, 2022), and “Paititi, Sur les traces de l’Eldorado inca” (in two volumes, France, May 2025).
Based in Cusco, Peru, for over twenty-five years, the French researcher has devoted his research since 1998 to studying the permanent presence of the Incas in the Amazon jungle and the search for the lost city of Paititi.
In September 2006, he officially announced the discovery of new petroglyphs (figures carved into the rock) at the archaeological site of Pusharo and the first Amazonian geoglyphs (giant figures carved into the ground), never before reported in the Amazon rainforest.
In the fall of 2010, he revealed to the Peruvian Ministry of Culture the existence of more than thirty archaeological sites previously unknown to modern archaeology, discovered by his team in the Lacco-Yavero, Chunchusmayo, Cusirini, and Yoyato valleys, in the northern department of Cusco.
His 2011 research campaign in the heart of the Megantoni National Sanctuary allowed him to gather new evidence on the existence and location of a major population center nearby.
Then, the discoveries made by Thierry Jamin and his group at Machu Picchu between 2011 and 2014 and the studies conducted between 2016 and 2025 (these investigations are ongoing) on mysterious non-human mummies, discovered in 2015 in the Nazca Desert by tomb robbers, have been the subject of recent publications.
In September 2019, the French explorer conducted an aerial reconnaissance over the probable area of Paititi. Three years later, satellite images confirmed the presence of significant ruins in the same location.
Finally, in 2025, Thierry Jamin and the Inkarri Institute team conducted a LiDAR operation in the highly probable area of the lost Inca city. The operation is currently underway.
The centuries-old search for Paititi could see a major breakthrough in the coming months…
Cassmedy Casafranca Medina,
Executive Secretary
Cassmedy comes from the medical world, as a physiotherapist. Passionate and proud of Peruvian history and culture, she has supported the Inkarri Institute since its foundation in 2009. Dynamic, serious and professional, it was inevitable that she would eventually join our institution. We are all extremely happy to welcome her as Executive Secretary.
José Benigno Casafranca Montes,
Vice-president
José was a member of a special intervention unit of the Peruvian National Police (PNP). A specialist in the fight against terrorism in the 1980s, he fought for fifteen years against the Shining Path. He joined Thierry Jamin’s team in May 2009, then founded the Inkarri Institute with him. Vice-president of the Institute, José is in charge, during research campaigns, of the coordination, organization and proper functioning of the base camps.
Alain Bonnet,
Secretary
Responsible for all Thierry Jamin’s websites, as well as the Institut Inkarri website, Alain Bonnet, originally from south-western France E.U., has been an active supporter of our NGO’s research since the very beginning. It was therefore logical that he should join our institution. Manager of the Jungle Doc production company, he also took part in our August 2006 campaign at the Pusharo petroglyphs. He is also a frequent visitor to the Nasca desert, on the trail of its unfathomable mysteries.
Ernesto Javier Fernández Gamarra,
Treasurer
Collaborator of Thierry Jamin in his research for more than ten years, Ernesto joined the Inkarri Institute in May 2019 as Treasurer. In 2017, it was Ernesto who discovered the existence of fingerprints on the fingers of the mysterious three-toed mummy called “Maria”.
Edward Valenzuela Gil,
Secretary of Public Relations and Information
Secretary for Public Relations and Information, Edward is responsible, in Cusco, for the audiovisual production company Neviza TV (www.nevizatv.com). Since 2009, he is the official cameraman of the expeditions of Thierry Jamin and the Inkarri group. A calm, all-terrain man! A true professional!
José Martín Casafranca Medina,
Speaker
Young general practitioner, Martín is the “Speaker” of the institute. His work is very useful for our team in the organization and the conduct of our research campaigns in difficult terrain and within the framework of the social programs developed by our NGO with populations living in our research areas.
Chiki Jamin,
Inkarri Institute official mascot
Chiki joined the Inkarri Institute team in 2020. An explorer at heart, the Amazon rainforest holds no secrets for her. And the Nasca desert is no exception! A Chiribaya shepherd, now a Peruvian national heritage site, Chiki is no less humble… the expeditions of Thierry Jamin and the Inkarri group. A calm, all-terrain man! A true professional!