VIC: Post mortem exam fails to say how backpacker died

AAP General News (Australia)
12-30-2008
VIC: Post mortem exam fails to say how backpacker died

MELBOURNE, Dec 30 AAP - A second post mortem exam performed on the body of backpacker
Britt Lapthorne has failed to show what caused her death after she went missing from a
Croatian nightclub.

The 21-year-old Melbourne woman went missing from a nightclub in the Croatian town
of Dubrovnik on September 18.

Her badly decomposed body was found floating in the sea on October 8.

The Victorian coroner has carried out a post mortem examination on Ms Lapthorne's body,
but it has failed to reveal her cause of death.

The results have been provided to the Lapthorne family and will also be given to prosecutors
working on the case in Dubrovnik.

"The testing and analysis to date has not revealed a cause of death for Britt," state
coroner Judge Jennifer Coate said in a statement.

Ms Lapthorne's father, Dale, has previously said he hoped the coroner may still be
able to confirm her death was suspicious and explain why her body was in such a decomposed
state.

An autopsy conducted in Croatia on Ms Lapthorne's body was also inconclusive.

AAP mi/gfr/srp

KEYWORD: LAPTHORNE

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