AUSTRALIAN POLICE RELEASE PHOTOS 25 YEARS AFTER BRITISH BACKPACKER'S MURDER

Australian police have released previously unseen photographs from their investigation into the murder of British backpacker Peter Falconio, marking 25 years since his death. Falconio, from Huddersfield, was shot on a remote stretch of highway near Barrow Creek in the Northern Territory on 14 July 2001, approximately 300 kilometres north of Alice Springs. His body has never been found. Bradley Murdoch, the man convicted of the killing, died of throat cancer aged 67 in jail last year without disclosing the location of Falconio's remains.

The released images include photographs of Murdoch taken during the police investigation and pictures of Falconio's girlfriend Joanne Lees taken in the hours after the attack. Lees escaped from Murdoch by hiding in scrubland for several hours before flagging down a truck. The photographs show injuries Lees sustained, including marks where her wrists had been bound with cable ties. Police also released images of the orange Volkswagen Kombi van the couple had been travelling in, which was found abandoned near the Stuart Highway close to where the attack occurred.

Northern Territory Police Force Commissioner Martin Dole stated that the release of the photographs could prompt witnesses to come forward with information. Dole said the investigation "can never be considered closed until Peter's remains are found and his family can lay him to rest." He described the case as a "traumatic and horrific event" for both Lees and Falconio's family, who have spent 25 years without answers about what happened to him.