Police may have found a dog which hunted a Sussex woman as she hid in the Australian bush from an alleged murderer.

Joanne Lees, 29, and boyfriend Peter Falconio were kidnapped in the outback near Alice Springs in July 2001.

Mr Falconio, a 28-year-old University of Brighton graduate, was killed while Miss Lees, a travel agent in Hove, escaped and hid.

The hijacker used a dog to try to track her before, it is thought, he drove away with Mr Falconio's body.

Miss Lees reported the animal was speckled and police have now found a dalmatian penned in an isolated property near Port Augusta, South Australia.

It is believed to belong to suspect Bradley John Murdoch, 45, who denies the killing.