Detective believes he knows where murdered Brit is buried in Australian outback – World News

The lead investigator in the case of murdered Brit backpacker Peter Falconio believes his body could be buried in unsearched desert land.

John Daulby ran the probe into the disappearance of 28-year-old Falconio in 2001, after the Huddersfield lad and his girlfriend Joanne Lees, 27, were abducted on Australia’s remote Stuart Highway.

Lees, now 47, escaped but Falconio was never seen again – and drifter Bradley Murdoch was convicted of shooting him dead and sentenced to life in jail.

On the 20th anniversary of Peter’s disappearance on Wednesday, July 14, Northern Territory Police in Australia say the case is “open and active”.

Detective Senior Sergeant Karl Day said: “Northern Territory Police are urging anyone out there, with any information that may assist Peter’s family in gaining some sort of closure, to come forward and contact police.

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“We are thinking of Peter’s family and friends on this anniversary and remain hopeful that such a milestone may jolt some information and progress the investigation.”

A spokesperson added: “Mr Falconio’s remains have never been found and the missing person’s case remains open and active.”

Retired Daulby, 70, believes Peter’s body could be buried in the vast Tanami desert.

Northern Territory Police searched swathes of land closer to the crime scene for Peter’s body but Murdoch, now 63, is the only person who knows where the remains lie, Daulby said.

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Murdoch was spotted on CCTV at a petrol station in Alice Springs – about 190 miles south of the crime scene – in the hours after the attack.

He is then said to have driven around 800 miles through the night and the following day across the inhospitable Tanami Track, reaching Fitzroy Crossing in Western Australia at about 8pm.

“Murdoch returned to the Shell truck stop but whether he was game enough to leave Peter’s body in the back while he got fuel I’m not too sure,” Daulby, the former assistant commissioner of Northern Territory Police, told the Mirror.

“My personal theory is the body has been buried on the way across the Tanami Track or between Barrow Creek (near the crime scene) and Alice Springs.

“There were two searches conducted by the Territory response group in the first few weeks, several kilometres north and south of the crime scene.”

Police conducted another both sides of the highway towards Alice Springs a couple of months later, he said.

“Through the Tanami area that would still leave a large area unsearched,” said Mr Daulby.

“It was our belief at the time it would be more probable he buried Peter in those areas I referred to.”

But he said unless there was specific information as to where to look, it would be difficult for police.

“Tanami is just so huge,” he said.

The desert spans 184,000 square kilometres. England is 130,000.

“I would like to think at some point in time Peter’s body will be found, but of course the only person who knows where it is, is Bradley Murdoch.”

Reflecting on the 20 year milestone, he told the Mirror: “It’s just an incredibly sad situation as nothing’s changed.

“It’s not a closed case as such because Peter’s body is still out there, for sure.

“Obviously those of us who worked on it and especially Peter’s family and Joanne will be very mindful it’s 20 years.

“There’s a chance someone may know something about where Peter’s body is – perhaps someone Murdoch spoke to – and I hope they come forward.

“I don’t think this case will ever be forgotten. Everyone has a view on it but the position of the police and prosecution remain the same.

“It’s desperately disappointing that it’s still outstanding and so hard for Peter’s family and Joanne.”

Murdoch is eligible for parole in 2032 but in 2016 a ‘no body, no parole’ law was passed in the Northern Territory, preventing him from being released on parole unless he reveals where Peter’s body is.

He maintains his innocence and has made two unsuccessful appeals since his 2005 conviction.

Peter and Joanne, also from Huddersfield, were driving their orange Kombi van up the remote Stuart Highway when Murdoch, in his white Toyota ute, gestured for them to pull over.

He claimed he had seen sparks from the back of their van – and then ambushed the pair.

Joanne heard some talking and then a gunshot after her boyfriend got out of the van.

She was then held at gunpoint, punched and tied with cables before being bungled into the back of the ute.

When her attacker was distracted she made a run for it, hiding in the bush for hours in the pitch black as hulking Murdoch, who stands at 6ft 5in, searched for her.

With her hands tied above her head, she jumped out in front of trucker Vincent Millar’s vehicle and he stopped to save her.

Daulby said of Lees, who was accused in a Channel 4 documentary last year of being “deceptive”: “People tend to forget it’s a horror story that she’s been through.

“Joanne Lees was never a suspect in my view.

“She was always strong and believable and I think people should stop questioning her. She always cooperated.

“I feel incredibly sorry for the Falconio family. They must think about him every day.

“Every time I pick up the files I think about them and about the conversations I had with them over many months in 2001/2002.

“For a long time, I called them every Sunday. It was always difficult on the basis they expected positive information that, lots of times, we didn’t have.

“They reached a point in time when they realised he was dead.

“I would like to think one day this can be resolved and Peter’s body can be returned to them.

“As far as the body is concerned, the case is not closed – although we know we got the killer.”