THE mother of murdered backpacker Caroline Stuttle marked the fourth anniversary of the teenager's death by going on safari - because of her daughter's love for animals.
Marjorie Marks-Stuttle, from Pocklington, travelled to the Krueger National Park in South Africa, with her husband, David, to see the spectacular wildlife as a way of remembering her daughter.
They camped out in a bush lodge and were taken by rangers to see elephants, rhinos and monkeys.
"Caroline loved animals so we decided to do something different," Marjorie said.
"On the anniversary I got a lot of texts from people in England, which was nice, and I spoke to my son, Richard.
"We went into the bush and stayed in a lodge by the side of the river.
"It's always really difficult and there were a lot of tears because Caroline would have loved it."
On April 10, 2002, Caroline, of Huntington, York, was robbed and thrown from a bridge in Bundaberg, Australia, by heroin addict Ian Previte. She was two months into her gap year tour of Australia with her best friend, Sarah Holiday.
In an effort to prevent similar tragedies happening again, Marjorie set up Caroline's Rainbow Foundation which aims to help young backpackers abroad.
The charity has raised more than £100,000 and produced a DVD for schools giving safety advice to would-be travellers.
Marjorie said future plans included producing a calendar and staging a fundraising golf day at Allerthorpe Park Golf Club, on May 17.
"David and I both appreciate all the support we've had to continue our educational campaign on safety awareness," she said.
"We hope to set up a message board on the foundation website for young people to write about nice places they've been to and any safety tips they may have."
The Evening Press recently reported how Richard gave his first safety talk to A-Level students at Queen Margaret's School, Escrick, and discussed his own worldwide travels over the past decade.
He hopes to give more talks to schools in the future and is planning an exhibition of his painting works in York in the summer in aid of Caroline's Rainbow Foundation.
Updated: 11:14 Tuesday, April 18, 2006
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