Appeal by outback ambush mother

The family of Peter Falconio hope he is still alive

The mother of the British tourist missing in the Australian outback believes her son is still alive and has urged people to help find him.

In her first public appeal, Joan Falconio told the BBC that she supported the account that her son Peter's girlfriend had given about the ambush.

Joanne has told the truth

Joan Falconio

But she said waiting for news about the whereabouts of her 28-year-old son was a "nightmare".

Peter Falconio has been missing since he and his girlfriend, Joanne Lees, were ambushed by a gunman on a highway in the Northern Territory 16 days ago.

Miss Lees, 27, has already criticised some of the media for casting doubts on her story of the attack and her escape.

Mrs Falconio told BBC's Breakfast News that her family were still hopeful that Peter would be found alive.

This is despite the fact that blood matching Mr Falconio's DNA has been found where he went missing on 14 July.

"That's all we've got to cling onto that he is alive.

"We can't think anything else," she said.

Not a suspect

Speaking from her home in Manchester, Mrs Falconio dismissed suggestions that Miss Lees may be a suspect as "rubbish".

"Joanne has told the truth. I know the girl so well.

The couple were devoted to each other

"She has been going out with Peter for six years.

"She is like a daughter to me."

She said she has spoken to Miss Lees but both of them had been too upset to talk at length.

The young couple, who were on the holiday of a lifetime, were devoted to each other, she said.

Mrs Falconio urged people in Australia who recognised the police e-fit, drawn up with Miss Lees' help, to come forward.

"Do you know this man? Is he a neighbour? Does he live down the road? Think please."

Her husband Luciano and son, Paul, have been in Australia for the past fortnight as police inquiries continue.

Detectives issued an e-fit of the gunman

Mrs Falconio had spoken to Peter in Alice Springs hours before he was due to set out on the next stage of their trip.

"He was looking forward to going north," she recalled.

Detectives in Alice Springs have offered a reward of £89,000 to help catch the gunman.

A 35-year-old man was arrested last Monday in Sydney but his alibi made it impossible for him to have been anywhere near the scene.

Miss Lees, of Almondbury, near Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, told police that she and her boyfriend had stopped their camper van on the Stuart Highway after a motorist claimed there was a problem with the vehicle.

Miss Lees said she heard what she thought was a gunshot moments after Mr Falconio got out of the van.

She said she was then bound and gagged but managed to escape and hide in the bush for nearly six hours while the gunman searched for her with a dog.