Police find evidence that outback Briton is dead
Police mounted a massive search with planes and Aborigine trackers in Australia’s northern desert today for a gunman after finding evidence that an abducted English tourist had been shot and killed.
Peter Falconio, 28, from Huddersfield, and his girlfriend Joanne Lees, 27, were stopped on Saturday night along a highway in the Northern Territory by a man with a gun, police said.
Lees told police that Falconio got out of their van to inspect what the gunman said were sparks coming from the vehicle’s exhaust pipe. She heard a gunshot and did not see her companion again, police said.
Police put up road blocks on the desert highway between Alice Springs and Tennant Creek while they searched for any sign of the gunman or Falconio, who is still missing. Police in the neighbouring state of Western Australia also were on the lookout for the gunman.
Aborigine trackers and heavily-armed police searched large areas of desert and vehicles were stopped at police checkpoints. The Northern Territory is a vast stretch of mostly uninhabited territory.
Northern Territory police commander Bob Fields said police investigators found evidence at the scene of the abduction suggesting Falconio had been shot to death.
"There is evidence there to indicate a bad fate has befallen her companion," said Fields, without giving further details.
"Obviously we don’t want to speculate but I’d have to say, nearly 36 hours after the incident, there’s no sign of her companion and from my point of view, we absolutely fear the worst here," he added.
There has been no confirmed sightings of the gunman, despite a few reports, Fields said.
Fields said Lees is traumatised but is working closely with police in an effort to identify the attacker.
The gunman punched Lees and tied her wrists and ankles with tape before forcing her into the back of a pick-up truck, Fields said.
Fields said Lees untied her ankles and escaped while her captor was distracted. She spent more than four hours hiding in desert scrub while the man stalked her with a torch and his dog, Fields said. The woman eventually stopped a car on the highway and raised the alarm.
