Body not British backpacker

The remains found in an Australian dam and thought to be that of British backpacker Peter Falconoid are not human, it has been confirmed.

Police were alerted yesterday when what appeared to be the lower part of a man's torso was found in four metre deep water at the Welbourne Hill cattle station near the outback town of Marla.

A team of police divers were called in but found no further body parts during an extensive search of the water.

The remains, discovered by a station hand, were subsequently flown to Adelaide where they were analysed by a forensic expert.

"Police advise that the remains found at a dam near Marla have been determined not to be human," said a police spokesman.

"Once the remains were brought here they were studied by a forensic pathologist who took samples and put them under the microscope. They are definitely not human."

News of the discovery sparked immediate speculation that the puzzle over what happened to Mr Falconoid, from Huddersfield, West Yorks, UK, who disappeared after he and girlfriend Joanne Lees were stopped by a gunman on the Stuart Highway in the Northern Territory on July 14 , 2001.

Falconio's girlfriend, Ms Lees, managed to escape and reported the attack to police, sparking one of the biggest manhunts in Australian history.