Croatia - Britt Lapthorne, 21, Aussie backpacker, Dubrovnik, 18 Sept 2008

[Strangeworld]

I couldn't find a thread on Britt surprisingly. This is great news for her family. Still a mystery what happened to her.

http://www.news.com.au/national-new...n-suicide-theory/story-fncynjr2-1226721240183

CROATIAN police finally concede it was unlikely Britt Lapthorne went swimming before her death or took her own life, her family says.

During a European adventure, Ms Lapthorne, 21, had joined other backpackers from her hostel at the Fuego nightclub in Dubrovnik's old quarter.

Her companions lost sight of her around 3am on 18 September 2008 and she never returned to her hostel, 3km away.

Eighteen days later her badly decomposed body was found floating in nearby Boninovo Bay.


Her belongings including her camera and wallet have never been found.

 

[Strangeworld]

Some older articles:

http://www.theage.com.au/national/b...tt-leave-club-with-two-men-20080929-4pv1.html

'Bouncer saw missing Britt leave club with two men'

A bouncer at the Croatian nightclub where missing Melbourne backpacker Britt Lapthorne was last seen alive says he saw the 21-year-old leave the club with two men and five women.

Britt's brother Darren, who is in Dubrovnik, and a former Croatian policeman who is helping him in the search for his sister, spoke to the bouncer on the weekend.

The nightclub worker said he distinctly remembered seeing the missing RMIT student and the other women leave the Club Fuego nightclub with the men.

The men offered the group a lift but the women were reluctant to get into their cars, the bouncer told Darren Lapthorne.


http://www.smh.com.au/national/britt-lapthornes-body-weighed-down-20090420-abu2.html

Britt Lapthorne's body 'weighed down'

Backpacker Britt Lapthorne's body was immersed in water from the time she went missing in Croatia and her body was weighed down, a Victorian autopsy has found.

A pathologist told Ms Lapthorne's family her body should have surfaced within three days, but it was not until 18 days after she disappeared that her remains were discovered, News Ltd said.

Mr Lapthorne said he believed his daughter met with foul play and that only people who knew the area well and knew how to hide or dispose of a body could have committed the crime.

 

[FigTree]

I'm glad to see this still in the news - it was a very disturbing case.

The Telegraph (pic)

There is also a Gallery of photos of Britt from msm The Telegraph.

Possibly a dedicated ws thread can be opened for Britt?

 

[fruity]

A thread for Britt would be great. I would love to hear that they've found her killers.

 

[fruity]

After reading this thread earlier I've been thinking about a show i watched a few years ago. I wonder if anyone else can remember it, or if it is online. It delved into other reports of attempted abductions by two men who matched the descriptions of the men Britt left Fuego with. Does anyone else recall it?

 

[Strangeworld]

Haven't seen that one Fruity, but would love to! Hopefully someone else will remember it.

 

[jamie233]

I do remember this fruity. I am thinking 60 minutes, if I recall correctly they worked with the family to do a piece on Britt.

 

[FigTree]

After reading this thread earlier I've been thinking about a show i watched a few years ago. I wonder if anyone else can remember it, or if it is online. It delved into other reports of attempted abductions by two men who matched the descriptions of the men Britt left Fuego with. Does anyone else recall it?

I don't remember the show, but I do remember the msm reports relating to the abduction theory and that there had been other similar abductions of backpackers. It went under the rug in Croatia.

I'll start a thread for Britt tonight - and just check in with the mods.

 

[jamie233]

Sunday night - Feb 8 2009

http://youtu.be/1LRC4R8vRAM (part1)
http://youtu.be/rMMRgswy64g (part2)
http://youtu.be/sHAk-nCmP6w (part3)
http://youtu.be/VUw3vyZs82s (part 4)
http://youtu.be/jGyf1nplDRE (part 5)
http://youtu.be/mfv9eK1aSXY (part 6)
http://youtu.be/7k1EE5fK9R0 (part 7)

This features interviews with other women who claim men posing as police abducted them or tried to.

Sorry about all the links, I couldn't find one with the complete interview.

 

[LadyL]

~bump for Britt~

 

[huxleypig]

Surprised that this is the only thread about this case.

The last I heard about this is that the descriptions from the girls in the video linked above (who had survived previous abduction attempts from men alleging to be cops) matched very closely to two actual Croatian policemen from that area.

 

[fruity]

Britt Lapthorne's Victorian inquest closed

THE Victorian inquest into the death of backpacker Britt Lapthorne, who disappeared from a Croatian night club in 2008, will be closed.
MS Lapthorne was last seen at the Latin Club Fuego in the coastal, tourist town of Dubrovnik where she was partying with about 10 other backpackers.
Croatian police never solved the mystery of how the 21-year-old student's body came to be in nearby Boninovo Bay, where it was found almost three weeks after she disappeared on September 18.
State Coroner Ian Gray will officially close the inquest at a hearing in Melbourne on Thursday.
He will hear a summary of previously unreleased reports prepared by both the Australian Federal Police and Croatian authorities.
Then the coroner will prepare his finding, to be released at a later date.
Ms Lapthorne's family believes Britt was murdered, her body weighted down and dumped at sea.
In 2009, her father, Dale Lapthorne, said the only information he would release from one of the reports was that Britt's body was in the water the whole time she was missing.
He was confident she had been weighted down before being dumped into the Adriatic Sea because there was no other explanation for her body not coming to the surface.
"It's the reason for the rapid decomposition of her body, and the fact it was only found 18 days later in a high visibility area, virtually out the front of a hotel and only a kilometre from the club," Mr Lapthorne told AAP in 2009.
At the time, the coroner confirmed Ms Lapthorne's body should have surfaced within two or three days.
The criminal investigation remains open in Croatia, but the Lapthorne family does not have confidence in police there.
Croatian authorities suspect Ms Lapthorne died due to "misadventure", though in 2013 they conceded it was unlikely her death was a suicide.
The Lapthorne family were not told their daughter was missing for six days after she disappeared, despite Australian officials being aware she had vanished.

http://www.news.com.au/national/bre...n-inquest-closed/story-e6frfku9-1227301825409

 

[Prentiss]

Thanks Fruity.

 

[fruity]

WHAT really happened to Australian backpacker Britt Lapthorne?
Sadly, we may never find out, but there are strong theories about the case.
Almost seven years since her disappearance from a Croatian nightclub, the investigation into the death of the 21-year-old will come to end.
The Victorian inquest into Ms Lapthorne’s death, who disappeared from a Croatian nightclub in 2008, will close on Thursday with little hope the answers to the mysterious circumstances surrounding the student’s death will be revealed.
The Australian reports Ms Lapthorne’s family “understands the investigation is virtually closed pending fresh information”.

http://www.news.com.au/travel/trave...n-inquest-closed/story-fnizu68q-1227302721349

 

[Odileth]

It is disheartening that to this day it is still not known what happened to Britt. Surely there have to be a number of people covering up the truth. I don't doubt that she was murdered.

 

[WolfDen]

Im surprised that there is nothing going on about this case. It seems like a lot of people wanted it to disappear. Feel very sorry for Britt and her family.

 

[WolfDen]

[h=1]Inquest into the Death of Britt Kathryn-May Lapthorne[/h]463508 Britt Kathryn-May Lapthorne (PDF 1.3MB)

 

[Bohemian]

Inquest into the Death of Britt Kathryn-May Lapthorne

463508 Britt Kathryn-May Lapthorne (PDF 1.3MB)

Thanks for posting this Wolfie. Very interesting (and tragic) read. Vale Britt.

 

[yurena]

''The criminal investigation remains open in Croatia, but the Lapthorne family does not have confidence in police there''

Sadly I totally understand the Lapthorne family not having confidence in the local police. Croatian is after all a Balkan nation and talking from experience -I teach in a neighbouring country- police forces in this part of the world do not solve cases, let alone when the victim is a foreigner and the person/s who caused her death are most likely Balkan nationals. This is the cold-hearted way they see things.

Extreme precautions should be taken when visiting Balkan countries, especially women.

RIP Britt Lapthorne

 

[Liora Bentley]

[h=1]Inquest into the Death of Britt Kathryn-May Lapthorne[/h]463508 Britt Kathryn-May Lapthorne (PDF 1.3MB)

What's puzzled me the most about this case is the extreme decomposition, far more than would be expected for a body three weeks post mortem submerged in water. The inquest report notes there were marine scavengers in the area...were there sharks? Something to account for that Britt weighed approx 50kg in life and the recovered remains weighed 20kg.