Matthew Woodcock recounts the tragic circumstances of Caroline's death.

CAROLINE Stuttle was having the time of her life.

Her backpacking adventure across Australia was everything she and her best friend, Sarah Holliday, had dreamed of and there was much more to come.

The pair, who barely spent an hour out of each other's company during the trip, had already visited Sydney and learned to surf.

They had travelled on to the small town of Bundaberg, in north Queensland, and were preparing to earn a few dollars tomato picking.

But then some time after 9.15pm on April 10, 2002, her promising life was brought to a shocking end.

Caroline, 19, had left Sarah at a caravan site where they were staying to phone her boyfriend in York from a call box at the end of a 30ft-high bridge which crosses the Burnett River.

She later called Sarah from her mobile phone to say she was walking back, but was never seen alive again. Screams were heard from the bridge shortly after the call and the alarm was raised when Caroline failed to return to their caravan.

It emerged that the former Huntington School pupil had been robbed and thrown from the structure, suffering severe head and spinal injuries.

A simple shrine with a plaque engraved with the former York College student's name now marks the spot. The news of Caroline's murder sent shockwaves throughout Australia and the UK as a huge manhunt was launched to find her killer.

More than 300 Bundaberg residents gave DNA samples to police after a smear of saliva was found on the railing next to where she fell. But it was still ten months before detectives had any leads, prolonging the agony for Caroline's family.

Police eventually arrested heroin addict Ian Douglas Previte last February after he allegedly confessed to the crime to an inmate while in prison on an unrelated matter in Rockhampton.

As details of Caroline's murder emerged in Britain, worried parents feared it was not safe to allow their children to embark on backpacking trips abroad.

But the victim's courageous parents, Alan and Marjorie, who are divorced, did more than anyone to allay those concerns.

In an interview with the Evening Press at his Micklegate gallery, Alan urged parents to "Let them fly".

He has now set up an art bursary at Caroline's old school to give promising pupils the chance to travel.

Within days of her death, Marjorie, from Pocklington, had sowed the seeds of an ambitious plan to set up a charity to make it safer for gap-year students abroad. Caroline's Rainbow Foundation has since proved a huge success and helped give parents greater peace of mind.

Marjorie says it has ensured that Caroline did not die in vain.

How the tragedy unfolded:

February, 2002: Caroline Stuttle and her best friend Sarah Holliday set off on gap year backpacking tour of Australia.

April 10, 2002: Caroline found murdered

April 11, 2002: Caroline's grief-stricken father Alan says he will "never get over" her death.

April 13, 2002: A man is questioned by Queensland detectives over the murder but is later released.

April 16, 2002: Sarah Holliday returns to York and reveals the anguish of losing her "beautiful" friend.

April 24, 2002: Caroline's funeral at All Saints Church, Huntington.

April 29, 2002: Australian police killer investigate claims that officers ignored a telephone call telling them about a woman's screams on the night she died.

May 05, 2002: Alan announces he is to close his gallery and travel the world after Caroline's death.

June 10, 2002: Australian police carry out mass DNA testing in the hope of tracing Caroline's killer.

July 10, 2002: Alan travels to Bundaberg to visit the scene of his daughter's death.

August 16, 2002: Caroline's mother Marjorie forms Caroline's Rainbow Foundation, a charity committed to helping young backpackers abroad.

October 17, 2002: Marjorie and Caroline's brother Richard plant a tree in her memory on the banks of the River Foss.

February 21, 2003: Former heroin addict Ian Douglas Previte, 30, charged with Caroline's murder.

May 22, 2004: Huntington School student Jane Bradley is first winner of bursary set up by Alan to encourage artistic talent through travel.

July 07, 2004: Marjorie announces she has married David Marks, who helped her through the tragedy.

September 27, 2004: The murder trial against Previte begins in Bundaberg, which is attended by Richard, and later Alan. Sarah Holliday gives evidence along with Caroline's boyfriend, Ian Nelson.

October 15, 2004: Previte convicted

Updated: 12:05 Friday, October 15, 2004