My gut feeling says body isn't Britt: mother
Posted
Missing since September 18: Britt Lapthorne and her mother. (Supplied)
The mother of missing Melbourne backpacker Britt Lapthorne says she hopes Croatian authorities will not say unidentified remains belong to her daughter, just to close the case.
At her home on Melbourne's northern fringe, Elke Lapthorne told reporters it is her gut feeling that a body found on the Croatian coast, is not that of her daughter.
Australian Federal Police have told her it will take eight days before the remains can be identified.
Yesterday morning AFP officers visited her to take a DNA sample, and also collected material from her daughter's bedroom.
Ms Lapthorne says her family has been successful in getting the Australian Government to take her daughter's disappearance seriously and now her anxiety is increasing every day as she waits for updates on the investigation.
Agent concern
Earlier, the AFP said the officer sent to Croatia to help in the investigation is the best person for the job.
The assurance from the AFP comes after reports claim there has been concern over Special Agent Mark Dokmonovich's posting to Croatia.
Agent Dokmonovich is an Australian citizen of Serbian decent.
An article published in the Fairfax press says Agent Dokmonovich was involved in protests outside the American consulate in Melbourne during Croatia's war with Serbia in 1991.
The report also says that unnamed senior police sources have expressed concerns over sending Agent Dokmonovich to Croatia.
Agent Dokmonovich has been described as a Serbian nationalist who has his country's flag tattooed on his legs.
But the AFP says that has nothing to do with the case.
