Caroline Dickinson inquiry timeline

Caroline was killed on a school trip five years ago

The extradition of a man suspected of murdering Cornish schoolgirl Caroline Dickinson comes five years after the lifeless body of the 13-year-old schoolgirl was found in a hostel dormitory in France.

18 July 1996: The 13-year-old is raped and killed in the dormitory she shared with four other girls.

19 July 1996: Caroline's body is discovered at 0800 in a dormitory of a hostel in the village of Pleine Fougeres, in Brittany.

She was on a schooltrip from Launceston Community College, Cornwall.

About 50 French Gendarmes begin work on the case.

John Dickinson visited France to check inquiry's progress

20 July 1996: French police arrest a vagrant, later released after a DNA test.

December 1998: French police free a man, held in connection with the death of Caroline after DNA tests proved negative.

November 1997: The French magistrate Renaud Van Ruymbeke, leading the investigation into the death, visits Britain for a three-day fact-finding mission.

2 February 1999: The UK government urges France to investigate more thoroughly the deaths of British nationals.

But Mr Justice Steel in the High Court in Exeter says Mrs Dickinson has not proved the school staff supervising the trip were at fault.

10 December 1999: Caroline's mother Sue Dickinson loses her civil claim for damages against Cornwall County Council following her daughter's death.

October 2000: Caroline's father John Dickinson makes his 18th trip to France to appeal for help from the public in the case.

March 2001: A US immigration officer visiting UK recognises Mr Montez after reading article about Caroline.

11 March 2001: Francisco Arce Montez is arrested in Florida after allegedly breaking into a woman's apartment.

East Cornwall Coroner Edward Carlyon describes Caroline's death as "the nightmare every parent dreads".

5 April 2001: The inquest at Bodmin Magistrates Court into the schoolgirl's death records a verdict of unlawful killing.

April 2001: French police issue a warrant for Mr Montez's arrest after DNA tests allegedly show a match.

June 2001: A US judge rules Mr Montez should be extradited to France.

19 November 2001: Francisco Montez is given over to American federal marshals in Miami.

20 November 2001: The man suspected of murdering Cornish schoolgirl Caroline Dickinson is extradited to France for questioning by investigators.