The latest hopes of a breakthrough in the case of missing former Brighton University student Peter Falconio have been dashed.
Police have denied that any human remains had been found despite reports linking an alleged discovery to the missing backpacker.
The 28-year-old was murdered on a remote stretch of highway near Barrow Creek, about 200 miles north of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory, on Saturday 14 July 2001.
Bradley Murdoch was convicted in 2005 of killing Mr Falconio and assaulting his girlfriend Joanne Lees at gunpoint. She used to work in a travel agency in Church Road, Hove.
Murdoch is believed to have hidden Mr Falconio’s body which has never been found despite extensive searches.
Media reports surfaced in the past few days, suggesting that human remains had been found in the outback near Alice Springs.
The Sydney Morning Herald said that they would be “cross-checked against the Falconio case because of their age and location”.
But in a short statement, Northern Territory Police said that current media reports were “factually incorrect” and that no remains had been recovered at all.
The force said: “No human remains have been located by Northern Territory Police and a search is not currently being conducted.
“Current media reports are factually incorrect.”
The force’s Assistant Commissioner Michael White added: “Northern Territory Police would like to advise the public that speculating on the identity on any missing person causes unwarranted grief and trauma to the family and friends.”
