Britt Lapthorne's family may never know how she died while backpacking in Croatia but they can take comfort in the knowledge she didn't take her own life.
The 21-year-old Victorian was last seen alive at a nightclub in the coastal tourist town of Dubrovnik in 2008.
Her badly decomposed body was found by fisherman three weeks later in nearby Boninovo Bay.
The cause of her death hasn't been identified but coroner Ian Gray heard in a summary of the case on Thursday, that suicide and an accidental cliff fall had been ruled out.
The Lapthorne family believe Britt was murdered and say while Thursday's hearing closed the Victorian inquest, it will be reopened when her case is solved.
Elke Lapthorne wiped away tears outside the court as she told reporters she hoped her daughter's killer was tortured by Britt's death.
"Whoever did this to our daughter, they have to live with their guilt," Mrs Lapthorne said.
Croatian police took more than 500 statements from witnesses at the nightclub, security guards and fellow travellers, the court heard.
Australian Federal Police described the Croatian investigation as thorough and professional in a confidential report.
But Dale Lapthorne hit out at the findings that Croatian police left no stone unturned.
"We are thoroughly annoyed and furious by the comments that it was a thorough and professional investigation," Mr Lapthorne told reporters outside the court.
"It was a debacle for the first two weeks."
Mr Lapthorne has since retraced the last month of his daughter's travels and says Britt may not have died in vain.
Many young backpackers were more careful when travelling overseas, he said.
Another lasting legacy, he says, is a change to the way Croatian police deal with similar matters.
"As to whether it will ever progress or we will ever find out what happened to Britt? I'm not sure," Mr Lapthorne said.
"What we did is we gave it our best shot. She was our daughter. We loved her. We still do."
During the Victorian hearing, coroner's associate Sergeant David Dimsey said Ms Lapthorne was last seen very drunk at the Latin Club Fuego where she was partying with other backpackers on September 18, 2008.
Croatian police say their investigation is continuing.
A final report by State Coroner Ian Gray will be handed down at a later date.
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