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A hotelier has told an inquest how he found body parts after flying to Africa to search for his daughter who was missing in a game reserve.
John Ward, 70, who lives near Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, said he flew to Kenya in September 1988 after learning that his daughter, Julie, 28, had gone missing while on a trip to photograph wildlife.
Mr Ward told the inquest into his daughter's death in Ipswich, Suffolk, that he organised an aircraft search of areas of the Masai Mara game reserve where Miss Ward had been camping alone.
He told how a pilot spotted his daughter's vehicle in a gully near a river. A few hours later he learned that park rangers had found her remains near a tree in the bush.
"I was told it was not a body they had found," Mr Ward told the inquest. "There was a leg and jaw and there had been a burning accident."
He said he was flown by helicopter to the scene of the discovery and added: "We landed at a place where there was this tree. I was shown the bottom half of a left leg. A little way off there was a jawbone. Hanging over a bough of the tree was a piece of orange towel."
He said near the base of the tree he found a food tin with the word pilchards written on it. "I thought it was Julie's writing," Mr Ward told the inquest. "I was getting pretty upset at this time as you can imagine. In disgust or anger I threw this tin away."
He said nearby there was the seat of a fire and the stench of burning flesh. "Of course I knew it had to be Julie but I was not sure it was Julie," he added. "I found nothing in there that I could identify."
Greater Suffolk coroner Dr Peter Dean has decided to hold a full inquest into Miss Ward's death in the hope of uncovering the full facts about the tragedy.
Initially the Kenyan authorities told Mr Ward that his daughter had been attacked and eaten by wild animals. But he mounted a personal investigation and produced evidence to show that she had been murdered.
John Ward, 70, who lives near Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, said he flew to Kenya in September 1988 after learning that his daughter, Julie, 28, had gone missing while on a trip to photograph wildlife.
Mr Ward told the inquest into his daughter's death in Ipswich, Suffolk, that he organised an aircraft search of areas of the Masai Mara game reserve where Miss Ward had been camping alone.
He told how a pilot spotted his daughter's vehicle in a gully near a river. A few hours later he learned that park rangers had found her remains near a tree in the bush.
"I was told it was not a body they had found," Mr Ward told the inquest. "There was a leg and jaw and there had been a burning accident."
He said he was flown by helicopter to the scene of the discovery and added: "We landed at a place where there was this tree. I was shown the bottom half of a left leg. A little way off there was a jawbone. Hanging over a bough of the tree was a piece of orange towel."
He said near the base of the tree he found a food tin with the word pilchards written on it. "I thought it was Julie's writing," Mr Ward told the inquest. "I was getting pretty upset at this time as you can imagine. In disgust or anger I threw this tin away."
He said nearby there was the seat of a fire and the stench of burning flesh. "Of course I knew it had to be Julie but I was not sure it was Julie," he added. "I found nothing in there that I could identify."
Greater Suffolk coroner Dr Peter Dean has decided to hold a full inquest into Miss Ward's death in the hope of uncovering the full facts about the tragedy.
Initially the Kenyan authorities told Mr Ward that his daughter had been attacked and eaten by wild animals. But he mounted a personal investigation and produced evidence to show that she had been murdered.
