A seven-year quest for truth

Pauline Holcroft had been sitting on a seafront bench when she received a telephone call from her elderly mother.

Pauline and Mick Holcroft spent seven years fighting for the truth

Earlier that day, together with husband Mick, they had waited an hour for their 21-year-old daughter, Rachel Whitear to meet them in Exmouth on 13 May 2000.

They had offered to help her move some of her items into her new flat, but she never turned up.

Miss Whitear, who had been a heroin addict, had a history of letting her parents down.

Her annoyed mother rang her daughter's flat, leaving a message on the answer machine.

"I was quite curt with her," said Mrs Holcroft, of Withington, Herefordshire.

"I said: 'Rachel, where are you? We've waited here an hour, and we've come all this way and you're not here'.

Rachel Whitear's parents had concerns about the investigation

"I reminded her of my mobile number and said we were going back to Sidmouth where we were staying."

But when Mrs Holcroft's mother rang later that day she knew something was wrong immediately.

"She asked if everything was okay, and I said yes," said Mrs Holcroft.

"She asked if Rachel was with us, and I said that no, she hadn't turned up. At that she burst into tears and she said she couldn't tell me because it was too awful, and I asked what was going on.

"She said she'd heard a news flash on the television that a 21-year-old girl had been found dead in her flat in Exmouth. I knew then it was Rachel."

Mr and Mrs Holcroft later received a call from Devon and Cornwall Police who said they had found their daughter's body the previous evening.

The first inquest into her death in December 2000 recorded an open verdict after an initial test showed there was not enough heroin in her bloodstream to kill her.

Since then, her parents have been trying to get to the bottom of exactly how she died - and whether she was alone in her final moments.

'Unusual move'

Their quest has led them to do things they never expected they would have to - including watching as their daughter's body was exhumed.

And the night before Miss Whitear's funeral, her mother received a call from the police asking for permission to check her body for fingerprints.

"They admitted then that was quite an unusual move," said Mrs Holcroft.

Her parents had to watch as her body was exhumed

"I later found out that they decided to do that because someone they had been speaking to had changed their statement. If I'd known that then I would've just put a stop to the funeral, even at that late stage."

Mr Holcroft, Miss Whitear's stepfather, said the seven-year campaign had been difficult for the couple, who both had full-time jobs.

"But at least we can say we have done everything humanly possible for Rachel," Mr Holcroft said.

The couple said they did not want Miss Whitear's memory to be crushed by the controversy surrounding the investigation into her death.

"We always talk about her and try to include her, often with a little bit of humour and affection," said Mrs Holcroft.

"We talk about what she would've found funny, what she would enjoy and what she's missing. When you lose a daughter she is always there, she is always part of your life.

"It will be a relief to put the unpleasant side of that into the past."