There’s a cherished video that Paul Warren watches again and again. Filmed by his late daughter Elly, it captures one of many special moments between the dad and his adventurous, beloved girl.
They’re on a catamarannear their home in Melbourne, enjoying the sea air and the sunshine, keeping an eye open for sharks that had just been spotted nearby. Elly’s determination to wring the most out of every day, no matter where she was, is evident in her beaming smile and infectious enthusiasm.
“Elly was always so happy, beautifully defiant, strong-willed and rebellious, and always had a smile on her face,” Paul tells Woman’s Day.
“Any father would be proud of her.”
Devastatingly, on 9 November 2016, that zest for life was brutally and shockingly extinguished when the 20-year-old was in the final week of a dream trip to Mozambique.
The future marine biologist was volunteering for a conservation organisation in the fishing village of Tofo, just northeast of South Africa. She’d spent most of her six weeks there diving in the Indian Ocean to record the sea life.
The last photo of Elly
Those sunny images she shared with her family are a stark contrast to the last photo taken of Elly – it was a picture of her lifeless and semi-naked body facedown in the dirt outside a toilet block near Tofo’s village marketplace.
It was taken around 5am by a fisherman who stumbled across the terrible scene.
Since Elly’s unexplained death, Paul, 65, has been on a single-minded mission to uncover who killed his daughter. Almost a decade later, that mission continues.
Paul’s fight for justice
In a new book, Hunting Elly’s Killer, Paul blames botched police and coronial investigations – and a reluctance by Australia to muddy diplomatic relations with Africa – for letting down Elly and her devastated family.
“The authorities have failed my daughter and we’ve been kept in the dark,” insists Paul.
“Other families need to know that if their child is murdered overseas, they can’t sit back and expect their child’s death to be investigated thoroughly. The system failed Elly and the person or people who killed her have got away with murder.”
Paul’s search for the truth
Paul has travelled to Mozambique and risked his own safety to gather evidence in Tofo about what he believes happened to Elly on the night she died. She’d spent the evening with friends she had met at Casa Barry Beach Lodge, the now-closed hostel where she was staying.
Later in the evening, she left her friends and walked along the main beach to return to her hostel. Paul believes Elly was then attacked, suffocating when her head was pushed into the sand during an attempted sexual assault. Autopsies showed Elly’s mouth and lungs were filled with compacted sand from the beach.
The clues that don’t add up
But Elly’s body was found facedown near the toilet block, where the dark grey sand didn’t match the sand in her lungs. This suggested she’d been moved after she died.
The photo taken by the fisherman who discovered Elly’s body and police crime scene photos also differed.
The position of Elly’s body had changed and in the police photos, the ripped black T-shirt Elly wore when she was first found had been swapped for an unripped tee.
Paul has meticulously documented the many mistakes and discrepancies that have dogged the investigation.
A father’s fight for justice
His research suggests Elly was killed by local men who may be part of a criminal underworld.
“I have a letter from police in Mozambique saying they have suspects, but they don’t have enough evidence to charge them with Elly’s murder,” says Paul.
“The investigation into Elly’s death was flawed from the start and unless the system changes, more families will suffer. I don’t want another family to go through what we go through every day.”
By writing the book and having a website dedicated to Elly, Paul hopes to keep her memory alive.
He wants to maintain pressure on legal authorities in Australia and Mozambique to find and jail his daughter’s killers.
“I keep going because of my love for Elly,” he says. “She was an amazing girl.”
Hunting Elly’s Killer by Paul Warren ($42, Simon & Schuster) is on shelves now. For more info, visit ellywarren.net.
