NT Police dismiss speculation of development in one of Australia’s biggest murder mysteries

Police say no remains have been found near Alice Springs, after reports of a possible new development in the mystery of British backpacker Peter Falconio’s murder.

Northern Territory Police have dismissed speculation that remains have been found that could be linked to the 22-year mystery of the location of the body of murdered British backpacker Peter Falconio.

According to reports in Nine newspapers, human remains were found this week in a location “consistent with an area where Falconio’s body was suspected to have been dumped”.

But in a statement to NCA NewsWire on Friday night, NT Police said “current media reports were factually incorrect”.

It said no human remains had been located by Northern Territory Police and a search was not currently being conducted.

“NT 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,” Assistant Commissioner Michael White said.

Peter Falconio with his girlfriend Joanne Lees.

Shortly after the statement was issued, Nine Newspapers released their own statement, advising that The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald had “retracted the story from their websites and remaining print editions and began making further inquiries”.

“During that process, the reporter received new information that cast doubt on the accuracy of the original story,” reads a statement published on The Sydney Morning Herald website on Saturday morning.

“We withdraw the article and apologise for any distress its publication may have caused Falconio’s friends and family.”

The Falconio murder is one of Australia’s most infamous cases. 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.

Murdoch is serving a life sentence in jail after being convicted in 2005 of the murder of Mr Falconio.

The court found Murdoch, a truck driver, shot dead Mr Falconio after stopping Kombi campervan he and Ms Lees were travelling on the Stuart Highway.

English tourists Joanne Lees and Peter Falconio on top of Uluru a few days before they were attacked 14 Jul 2001 on the Stuart Highway at Barrow Creek in the NT. pic/supplied.

Mr Lees was handcuffed by Murdoch before she managed to escape and hide in nearby bushes for five hours until he abandoned his search for her.

Mr Falconio’s body has never been found. Murdoch has always denied the murder.

The sentencing judge said he believed Murdoch had dumped Mr Falconio’s body in his car and dumped it somewhere between Alice Springs and Broome.

Bradley John Murdoch was found guilty of murdering Peter Falconio.

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.

Peter Falconio and Joanna Lees.

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.

Originally published as NT Police dismiss speculation of development in one of Australia’s biggest murder mysteries