The death of Australian woman Elly Warren in Mozambique has now been ruled a homicide by police there, seven years after her body was found.
Elly’s father Paul Warren from Mordialloc in Melbourne has welcomed the overdue finding and he’s hoping an inquest in Australia will deliver the same outcome.
“We’re hopeful now, we’re probably more hopeful than we’ve ever been that somebody might be charged, ” he said.
“They have some suspects.”
In 2016, 20-year-old Elly’s body was found face down behind a toilet block in coastal Mozambique, two days before she was due to return home.
Mr Warren conducted his own investigations in the beachside town.
He received confirmation of the homicide investigation after Australian Federal Police travelled to East Africa, at the request of the coroner.
Retired homicide detective Charlie Bezzina has spent years analysing the case.
The original Mozambique report describes Elly’s death as “violent”, and a South African autopsy found sand deep in her lungs.
Despite an inconclusive examination result, Bezzina has no doubt.
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“This is a murder, this was a homicide that needs to be investigated appropriately with the Federal Police looking over the shoulder of the Mozambique authorities,” he said.
The veteran investigator has provided a statement that will form part of the Victorian inquest.
“It’s based on factual evidence on what’s already been produced in the photographs, witnesses that have come forward and now the acceptance of the Mozambique police,” he said.
“It’s important from an Australian perspective that we also agree with Mozambique and it’s just not swept under the carpet.”
Beginning on Tuesday, the coroner will hear three days of evidence from Elly’s loved ones, medical experts and investigators.
Her family hopes it will lead to an official request from Australia for Mozambique to hand over the case file.
“If there’s any chance of us finding the perpetrators that has murdered my daughter, then that would be closure in a way,” Mr Warren said.
“It’s important that I do this for her because I know damn well that she would do it for me.”
