Mother's 'devastation' over Becky Godden-Edwards' death

The mother of a woman whose remains were found in a Gloucestershire field has spoken of how her daughter's death has devastated her family.

Karen Edwards said Becky Godden-Edwards' drug addiction had turned her in to a "very different person".

Her parents told a news conference that police had given the family the news on what would have been her 29th birthday.

Her remains were found in a field in Eastleach by police investigating the murder of 22-year-old Sian O'Callaghan.

'Next fix'

Mrs Edwards told the news conference: "Life was hard before when she was living the life of an addict but we really did think she was alive and that one day she would come back home.

"Becky has now been found and the news of her horrific death has devastated all her family.

Miss Godden-Edwards was reported to the Missing People Helpline in 2007

"My daughter has been murdered and to be given the news on what would have been her 29th birthday, we can't believe it."

Mrs Edwards told reporters her daughter had fallen in with "the wrong crowd" when she was a teenager and started taking drugs.

She said her family had done everything to help her overcome her addiction during her teenage years.

"We tried everything to stop her leaving home but on every occasion the pull of her habit was much stronger and she would do whatever she needed to do to get her next fix.

"It was not unusual behaviour for Becky to disappear for weeks and months on end.

'Dark places'

"Life was very tough for us all and we witnessed many, many awful things that we would not wish on any parent."

"She left school and her life spiralled - spiralled into some very dark places to feed her addiction.

Friends of Miss Godden-Edwards held a memorial balloon launch in Swindon

"She became a very, very different person," Mrs Edwards explained.

Miss Godden-Edwards' family did not initially report her missing to the police as they thought she was living in the Bristol area.

She left the family home in Swindon in 2001 but it was not until 2007 that her family contacted the National Missing Persons Helpline.

Taxi driver Christopher Halliwell, 47, of Ashbury Avenue, Swindon, has been charged with the murder of Miss O'Callaghan and is due to appear before Bristol Crown Court on 14 July.

On Monday afternoon, friends of Miss Godden-Edwards held a memorial at Queens Park in Swindon where 200 balloons, adorned with pictures of her, were released.