Mother of murdered British backpacker begs Australian police to find her son's body

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The body of Briton Peter Falconio, 28, was never found after he was shot by Bradley Murdoch on a lonely stretch of motorway in 2001 while that his girlfriend managed to escape

British backpacker Peter Falconio and Joanne Lees (

Image: PA)

The mother of a backpacker who was murdered in Australia 21 years ago has pleaded with the police to find his body.

Briton Peter Falconio was never found after he was shot at the age of 28 by Bradley Murdoch on a lonely stretch of highway in the Outback in 2001.

Peter's mother, Joan, 75, has called on "anyone with a conscience" to reveal the whereabouts of her son's remains.

Murdoch is serving life in prison for the murder and kidnapping of Peter's girlfriend, Joanne Lees, who managed to escape.

DNA in the bloodstains on his clothes linked Murdoch to the crime after he was arrested in Adelaide in 2003.

Luciano and Joan Falconio (front), parents of Peter Falconio, in court in 2005 (

Picture:

Getty Images)

The whereabouts of Peter's body remains one of Australia's most baffling mysteries.

Politician Frank Pangallo has urged the Northern Territory government to offer a one million Australian dollar (£580,000) reward for the recovery of Peter's body.

Ms Falconio said she and husband Luciano, 80, felt the officers had given up.

She wrote to Mr Pangallo this week and said: 'We want to bring Peter home where he belongs near his family. Our pain is always with us.

"He was murdered 21 years ago, just 28 years old.