Major update in case of missing Brit backpacker Peter Falconio as human remains found in Outback ‘could be his’ | The Sun

HUMAN remains found in the Australian Outback are being tested to see if they belong to murdered British backpacker Peter Falconio.

The young Brit was shot dead in 2001, on the Stuart Highway in central Australia as he was backpacking with his girlfriend Joanne Lees, 27.

Drug runner Bradley Murdoch who was sentenced to life in prison for Falconio’s murder in 2005, has remained tight-lipped about where he left the body.

Despite extensive searches in the area over the years, the location of Peter's body remains a mystery.

And now, 22 years after the murder, human remains that were found in the Outback will be tested to check whether they belong to the backpacker.

Sources told the Sydney Morning Herald, the skeletal remains are being cross-checked against the Falconio case because of their age and location.

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The remains were found earlier this week near Alice Springs, where Peter's body was believed to have been dumped, just a few miles away from where he was shot.

The skeletal remains were found during the search for mum-of-two Angie Fuller who vanished on January 9 on Tanami Road.

Police fear the 30-year-old might have been murdered as they revealed they are treating her disappearance as a homicide.

Investigators have established the remains do not belong to the missing mum due to their age.

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Police have launched multiple searches over the years to find Falconio's remains but to no avail.

Back in September, cops revealed a crucial detail that could have helped them locate the body.

A possible new witness has claimed he spotted a vehicle similar to the killer's parked "in an odd place" 24 hours after the murder.

Meanwhile, SA Best MLC Frank Pangallo demanded a £500,000 reward for information that would lead to Peter's body.

The backpacker's murder made headlines across the world with authorities launching an extensive police manhunt to locate the culprit.

Peter was backpacking with his girlfriend Joanne Lees, 27, through Western Australia in July 2001.

On July 14, Joanne flagged down a truck on the Stuart Highway saying she and her boyfriend, both from West Yorkshire, had been attacked after their camper van was stopped by a truck.

She claimed the driver shot Peter before tying her up, but managed to escape and hid in bushes for five hours.

She later said: "It was either run, or be raped and killed."

It wasn't until four years later that a tip-off led to the arrest of drug runner Bradley Murdoch.

Murdoch always proclaimed his innocence but in December 2005, in Darwin, he was sentenced to life in prison for Falconio’s murder and the attempted kidnap of Joanne Lees.

During his trial, the prosecution alleged that after he killed Falconio he bought fuel in Alice Springs before heading back to his home in Broome, along the Tamami Road.

Cops have previously searched sections of the road as part of their investigation.

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He was diagnosed with cancer in 2020 prompting the police to attempt to get a confession finally in exchange for moving him to a prison closer to his family.

Murdoch can apply for parole from 2033 but if he doesn’t reveal the location of Peter’s body his application will be denied.

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