The lead investigator in the case of murdered Brit backpacker Peter Falconio believes his body could be buried in unsearched desert land.

John Daulby ran the probe into the disappearance of 28-year-old Falconio in 2001, after the Huddersfield lad and his girlfriend Joanne Lees, 27, were abducted on Australia’s remote Stuart Highway.

Lees, now 47, escaped but Falconio was never seen again – and drifter Bradley Murdoch was convicted of shooting him dead and sentenced to life in jail.

On the 20th anniversary of Peter’s disappearance on Wednesday, July 14, Northern Territory Police in Australia say the case is “open and active”.

Detective Senior Sergeant Karl Day said: “Northern Territory Police are urging anyone out there, with any information that may assist Peter’s family in gaining some sort of closure, to come forward and contact police.