Britt Lapthorne's mum losing hope
- 10th October 2008
Murdered backpacker Britt Lapthorne.
THE mother of missing backpacker Britt Lapthorne says she is fast losing hope that her daughter will be found alive.
Elke Lapthorne said it would take a miracle to find her daughter, who went missing in Croatia last month.
"We need help, as every day goes by our anxiety is growing," Mrs Lapthorne told reporters at her rural Eden Park property, north of Melbourne.
"I am losing hope, there are not highs any more, only lows, it's a roller-coaster ride going down, down, down all the time."
A Croatian detective has denied local newspaper claims that a body recovered from the sea off Dubrovnik bears similarities to Britt, who was last seen in the Croatian coastal resort of Dubrovnik in the early hours September 18.
Mrs Lapthorne said if Croatian police said the body was Britt's she wanted it checked again.
"I hope it isn't Britt, if they say it's Britt I want that endorsed by our own Australian authorities as well," she said.
"If that's the case I guess we'll have to accept it, it might give us closure.
"I'm just hoping the authorities over there are not using Britt or this body and will identify it as Britt just so they can close the case over there, that's how it feels at the moment."
Mrs Lapthorne said her husband Dale, who has been in Dubrovnik with their 25-year-old son Darren to search for Britt, had lost the aggression he had several weeks ago.
She said her son sounded drained and she was worried about his mental state as he was very close to his younger sister.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says he has "absolute confidence" in the Australian Federal Police (AFP) handling the case of the missing backpacker.
Britt's father, Dale Lapthorne has been critical of the AFP's handling of the case.
AFP officer Marko Dokmanovic has been sent there to help in the investigation.
Mr Lapthorne criticised Mr Dokmanovic, describing him as a "phantom" agent.
The AFP defended Mr Dokmanovic, rejecting claims he was not the right man for the job.
The AFP issued a statement branding media articles "unhelpful" after a Fairfax media report said Mr Dokmanovic was Serbian.
The report raised questions about whether Mr Dokmanovic was suitable for the job, given fierce fighting and bloodshed between Serbia and Croatia.
"Federal agent Dokmanovic is a detective with a background and expertise in complex major investigations and in excess of 25 years policing experience," the AFP said.
"Media articles focused on federal agent Dokmanovic are unhelpful and only provide a distraction to the concerted efforts by all parties involved to find Ms Lapthorne."
The agency also said Mr Dokmanovic's ability to speak Croatian had helped establish quick and clear lines of communication between the Croatian police and Australian authorities.
The AFP said it had "full confidence in the professionalism and duties" being performed by Mr Dokmanovic.
It said it had received "complimentary feedback" from Croatian police at the Interpol General Assembly in St Petersburg, Russia.
The statement said a senior AFP liaison officer was also deployed to Croatia earlier this week and was attending high-level meetings with Croatian police.
In addition, it said, Interpol had notified all 187 member countries of Ms Lapthorne's disappearance and its 24-hour command and coordination centre was giving the case high priority.
"The AFP acknowledges the distress experienced by the Lapthorne family and is committed to providing all assistance possible to the Croatian police investigation and providing advice and support to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the family of Ms Lapthorne," the statement said.
Mr Rudd also defended the police efforts.
"I have every confidence in the federal police," he told Fairfax Radio Network in Melbourne.
"The police commissioner Mick Keelty has been on the phone to the chief of the Croatian police, we've got a federal police officer on the ground, we have two consular officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs on the ground.
"We also had the president of the Australian Senate meet with the Croatian prime minister and the minister for the interior and, of course, we are working as effectively as we can in a foreign country to try and help in what is an awful situation."
Mr Rudd said the case was a real concern to the Government and to all Australians.
"It's terrible for the family and it's really distressing for any mum or dad in Australia, losing track of one of their loved ones anywhere in the world," he said.
Ms Lapthorne's father Dale has told of feeling "shattered, exhausted" and asked for Government support in a letter published by News Limited media on Friday.
"I have an expectation of support from the Government," he wrote.
"I'm not asking for money, but there should be an infrastructure somewhere in the Australian bureaucracy that can support us in a compassionate and realistic way.
"We should be able to have that support in times of urgent need."
Mr Lapthorne said the family's "fairly aggressive approach in the media" had sparked a dramatic change in assistance, with the Australian Government putting in a "fairly high-level person to help us".
- © AAP
