Kirsty Jones murder: Thai police pledge to continue hunt for killer

Kirsty Jones was 23 when she was murdered

Police in Thailand have pledged their "continued commitment" in the hunt for the killer of a Powys backpacker after a meeting with senior British officers.

Kirsty Jones, 23, from Tredomen, near Brecon, was raped and strangled at a guesthouse in Thailand in 2000.

Dyfed-Powys Police sent two senior officers to Thailand last week to help the inquiry into her death.

Det Chief Supt Steve Wilkins said he had a "very positive meeting" with his Thai counterparts on Tuesday.

Despite a number of arrests, no charges have ever been brought over Ms Jones's death.

The force said last week that two detectives were flying out to Bangkok to discuss the progress of the case and a DNA sample of a potential suspect.

They wanted to ensure the Thai authorities were still committed to finding Ms Jones's murderer.

Speaking after the meeting on Tuesday, Det Ch Supt Wilkins said: "We have had a very positive meeting with the director general and officers from the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) today.

"We have been able to secure their continued commitment to search for and bring to justice the person who murdered Kirsty nearly 12 years ago.

"We discussed and agreed lines of inquiry focused around DNA.

"We also talked about some other possible avenues for the investigation but I will be discussing these with the family before taking them any further."

Det Chief Supt Wilkins said last week the force had re-interviewed a number of witnesses now living in the UK and had traced other witnesses living in Thailand and one in India.

Farmer's daughter Ms Jones, a Liverpool University graduate, was found dead in a room at the Aree guest house in Chiang Mai in northern Thailand, 435 miles (700km) north of the country's capital Bangkok.

She was three months into a two-year around-the-world trip.

Her mother Sue Jones has pledged never to give up the fight to see her daughter's murderer caught.