Missing Briton: Police release CCTV footage of 'suspect'

Police searching for British backpacker Peter Falconio today released security pictures of a man fitting the description of his suspected kidnapper.

The images of the man and his white pick-up truck were taken by a security video camera at a service station in Alice Springs in central Australia in the early hours of Sunday July 15, the day after Mr Falconio was last seen alive.

The man's canvas-covered vehicle is shown parked in the truck area. The man is seen in the shop, where police said he bought ice and water.

The pictures were released as police said a man's body found by a roadside in the Outback was unlikely to be that of the missing 28-year-old.

Northern Territory Police said they believed the discovery was "unconnected" to the disappearance.

A post mortem examination was due to be held later today but police believed that it would confirm their suspicions.

The body was found more than 200 miles from where Mr Falconio, from Hepworth, near Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, and his girlfriend Joanne Lees were ambushed as they drove along the Stuart Highway.

A police spokeswoman said the body, found 40 miles south of Alice Springs, was wearing different clothing from those Mr Falconio was wearing when he was last seen alive.

She said: "We believe this discovery is unconnected.

"We are not 100% sure that it is not Mr Falconio but this body is not wearing the same clothing as he was when he was last seen."

Police have yet to identify the body or establish a cause of death.

The body was discovered by locals close to the Stuart Highway.

Mr Falconio and Miss Lees were ambushed as they travelled in their VW van about 190 miles north of Alice Springs.

Miss Lees, 27, from Almondbury, near Huddersfield, told police she was tied up and gagged but managed to struggle free and escape into the bush.

She said she hid for six hours while the attacker searched for her with his dog.

She said she heard a gunshot and police have been working on the theory that the hijacker murdered Mr Falconio, then dumped his body.

Police mounted a huge land and air search of the Outback after Mr Falconio disappeared.

But despite repeated appeals for information and the circulation of various e-fit descriptions, police have so far discovered nothing.

A breakthrough came last week when it emerged that scientific experts had found the DNA of a man which did not belong to Mr Falconio on Miss Lees's clothing.

The "small, but significant" development meant officers could check the sample with international police DNA data banks.

The breakthrough followed attacks by some sections of the media on Miss Lees's version of events.

Reports questioned why only Miss Lees's footprints were found at the scene and how she managed to free her arms.

But Mr Falconio's mother, Joan, defended the young tourist's story saying: "Basically Joanne told the truth about what's happened and that's that.

"I know the girl so well - she's been going out with Peter for six years. She's like a daughter to me. They're devoted to each other."

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said Mr Falconio's family was being kept informed of developments.

A spokesman for Northern Territory police said it was hoped the video footage could provide a breakthrough in the hunt for Mr Falconio's attacker.

"The film has come from the security tapes of a truck stop on the north side of Alice Springs and was taken a few hours after the abduction.

"We have been aware of the footage for some time but when we first got it, the tape's quality wasn't very good and we had to send it away to be enhanced.

"It shows a man who seems to match the description of the suspect wanted in connection with Mr Falconio's disappearance.

"We need to know who this man is and we hope somebody will recognise him from the footage. It could be that the man is wholly unconnected to the abduction - but equally it could provide the breakthrough this investigation needs."

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