The family of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler yesterday revealed shocking details of her final hours after chilling confessions by killer Levi Bellfield.
They told of the 14-hour ordeal suffered by Milly as they made a highly emotional public statement to expose the “true heinousness” of their 13-year-old daughter’s murderer.
Parents Sally and Bob Dowler along with her sister Gemma spoke after Bellfield finally spoke out in harrowing terms about his crimes. They told of hoping Milly’s “soul, at long last, can finally rest in peace” now that the triple killer has given his account.
Bellfield would only speak to female officers from Surrey Police when he decided to confess and gave them disturbing details of how he repeatedly raped, tortured and murdered Milly.
The ex-bouncer and wheel-clamper, 47, was convicted in 2011 of her murder but refused to make any admission about his crime until last month.
He is also serving life terms for killing Amelie Delagrange, 22, and Marsha McDonnell, 19, which means he will never be released.   Yesterday the Dowler family said they had been told nine months ago that Bellfield had asked to speak to police about the murder and abduction of Milly in 2002.
The schoolgirl vanished near her home in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, as she walked home from school.
The statement said that Bellfield gave a harrowing account of her final 14 hours.
The Dowler family said they were speaking out because Bellfield had bragged about the crimes to fellow inmates — one of whom was about to be released, which meant there was a risk he could speak about it.
The statement said: “Bellfield told the police that after abducting Milly and assaulting her at his flat a few yards from Walton station, he then drove her to his mother’s house.
“He reversed down a long driveway and then raped her in broad daylight. Bellfield then moved her to another location, where the rape and torture continued for a number of hours, until the next day, when he finally strangled her to death.”
Surrey Police also told the family that they were investigating a possible accomplice of Bellfield. Detectives arrested a suspect in his forties last month but released him after just 10 hours because there was no evidence.
The family said: “Hearing Bellfield’s account of how Milly spent her final hours before being murdered was shocking enough but the news that there could have been another individual involved was devastating.
“There are no words to describe the additional torment and pain we have been going through since we were told this information. We had to remain silent for eight months while the police conducted their investigation.
“Finally, when they made the arrest of the suspected accomplice, the person was questioned and released without charge in less than 10 hours as there was no evidence found.
“The pressure this has put us under as a family has been unimaginable and has taken its toll on all of us. We have had to fight every step of the way to get this far. In desperation last November we wrote to the home secretary to tell her of our concerns and she met us immediately.
“Now we know the final hours of Milly’s life, perhaps her soul, at long last, can finally rest in peace.   “The general public have always played a huge part in supporting us, for which we are eternally grateful and thankful. We believe that they should know what Bellfield did to our beautiful daughter and sister Milly.”
The schoolgirl’s body was found in a Hampshire wood 25 miles from her home in Walton-on-Thames. Experts could not say how she died.
Bellfield, who now calls himself Yusuf Rahim, lived 50 yards from where Milly vanished but did not become a suspect until 2004 when he was arrested by London police for the other offences.
Detectives are now looking into a number of other crimes in the wake of his shock confession.