Remains reportedly found near Alice Springs could be tested to see if they belong to murdered British backpacker Peter Falconio.
In one of Australia’s most infamous murders, Mr Falconio was shot dead by Bradley Murdoch, who ambushed the 28-year-old and his girlfriend Joanne Lees on the Stuart Highway in the remote Northern Territory outback on July 14, 2001.
The remains were found this week in a location consistent with an area where Falconio’s body was suspected to have been dumped, within a few hundred kilometres of where he was shot, Nine newspapers reports.
Forensic experts will use DNA and dental records to establish an identity, the outlet said.
Northern Territory Police told News Corp they could not confirm details on Friday night.
Murdoch is serving a life sentence in jail after being convicted in 2005 of the murder of Mr Falconio.
The court found Murdoch shot dead Mr Falconio after stopping their Kombi campervan on the Stuart Highway.
When they pulled over, Mr Falconio was shot dead and Mr Lees was handcuffed by Murdoch before she managed to escape.
She fled into the nearby bushes and hid for five hours until he abandoned his search for her. Mr Falconio’s body has never been found.
Murdoch has always denied the murder.
Veteran English journalist Roger Maynard began reporting on the Peter Falconio murder mystery story in 2001.
He was one of the first journalists on the scene and he has been reporting on it ever since.
He travelled throughout Australia and the United Kingdom for four years uncovering evidence about the gripping case and looking for answers to the key questions about what happened, for his book Where‘s Peter which was launched in 2020?
Mr Maynard said on Friday he would be cautious about the discovery of the bones simply because a lot of remains have been found over the years, and none turned out to be Peter Falconio.
He also said a lot of people have gone missing in the outback in the past 20 years.
But he said nothing has come of those discoveries but the latest one “is interesting”.
“However, this is a story which still has a lot of unanswered questions,” he said.
Story Credit: news.com.au