Outback footprint clue to Briton in gunpoint abduction

Forensic tests were today being carried out on a footprint found near the scene of the gunpoint abduction of a British man in the Australian Outback.

Peter Falconio, 28, has not been seen since he and his girlfriend Joanne Lees, 27, were held up by a man as they travelled in their camper van on a remote desert highway 175 miles north of Alice Springs eight days ago.

The couple had been flagged down by the man and Miss Lees, of Almondbury, near Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, heard what she thought was a gun shot.

She said she was then tied up by the man and thrown into the back of a van, but managed to escape into the bush where she spent several hours hiding from the gunman before raising the alarm.

But Mr Falconio, of Hepworth, near Huddersfield, vanished, and as police mounted a search for him using Aboriginal trackers, they said the chances of finding him alive were bleak.

Following DNA tests on Mr Falconio’s father Luciano and brother Paul, 31, Northern Territory police said they believed blood found on the remote highway belonged to the Briton.

A footprint was found near the scene yesterday and a cast has been taken of it for forensic examination.

A Northern Territory police spokeswoman said: "It is unclear whether the footprint is connected to the incident.

"Aboriginal trackers will today remain in the Barrow Creek area to continue their search of bush tracks around the Barrow Creek crime scene."