Northern Territory Police released previously unseen photographs from the Peter Falconio investigation on Tuesday, 25 years to the day since the British backpacker was murdered on the Stuart Highway near Barrow Creek, and renewed a $500,000 reward for information that locates his remains.

The images include Joanne Lees, photographed hours after the attack with cuts and grazes on her arm, the couple's orange Kombi van, and evidence markers beside a dark stain on the highway bitumen. Days earlier, police also released footage of their final interview with the man who killed him.

“This was a traumatic and horrific event for Ms Lees, and for Peter's family, who have now gone such a long time without the answers they deserve," Police Commissioner Martin Dole said. "While a murderer has been held accountable for his crimes, this investigation can never be considered closed until Peter's remains are found and his family can lay him to rest.”

Falconio, 28, was shot dead on the night of July 14, 2001, after the Kombi he was driving with Lees was flagged down. Bradley John Murdoch was convicted of the murder in December 2005 and sentenced to life with a 28-year non-parole period. He died in the palliative care unit of Alice Springs Hospital in July last year, aged 67, without ever admitting the crime or disclosing where Falconio's body lies.

"It is deeply regrettable that Murdoch died without, as far as we know, ever disclosing the location of Peter's remains," Dole said. "His cowardly silence has denied his family, friends and loved ones the closure they deserve."

The final interview, recorded at Alice Springs Correctional Centre in June 2025 and made public through SBS this month, shows Murdoch holding that silence to the end. "I know nothing, know nothing. I've said this for 22 years I know nothing," he told the two officers who sat with him. The reward for locating the remains had been doubled from $250,000 to $500,000 that same week, as his health failed.

The case has already changed Territory law once. In 2016 the NT became the first Australian jurisdiction to pass no body, no parole legislation, a reform widely linked to Murdoch's refusal to co-operate.

The appeal is now aimed at anyone Murdoch may have spoken to across 20 years in custody. "No piece of information is too small; what may seem insignificant could prove critical in helping investigators finally resolve this case," Dole said. Information can be passed to police on 131 444 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.