The family of murdered backpacker Shirine Harburn say they will not rest until her killer is brought to justice.

Shirine, 30, from Langley Green, Crawley, was stabbed 17 times in the chest as she walked alone on a remote Chinese mountain two years ago.

Her parents listened as a coroner Roger Stone recorded a verdict of unlawful killing at the Crawley inquest on their fun-loving daughter.

He promised the family the investigation in to Shirine's death was "far from over."

And Shirine's mother Sheila said she would be travelling to China to visit the spot where her daughter's body was found.

Her father Clive read a statement on behalf of Sheila and Shirine's sisters Kiera, 28, and Lianne, 30, in which they said: "It's just over two years since the person who murdered Shirine changed our lives forever.

"Nothing will ever take away the pain we feel and nothing can ever fill the void she has left in our hearts.

"We love and miss her terribly and we are deeply distressed that her life was cut short so violently and needlessly.

Her mother added: "I plan to go to see where it happened. I would feel incomplete if I didn't.

"Shirine loved travelling and had done so since she was very young. She was born in Tehran. She had a real zest for life."

Shirine's sister Lianne said: "We miss talking to her, we miss her hugs and her laugh. We miss her lovely smile.

"Today's verdict does not help. It does not bring her back.

"We still want to find the perpetrators, but even that will not bring her back."

Shirine was trekking around the Western Sichuan region when she was attacked on a mountain close to the town of Kangding in May 2000.

A team of 100 Chinese police found her body at the end of a trail of blood in undergrowth 3,000ft up nearby Paomao Hill.

She had been brutally murdered with an eight-inch knife.

On the day of her death she was not with her boyfriend and travelling partner Colin Horsfield, now 29, from Crawley.

Detective Superintendent Chris Gillings, who returned from China this month after meeting detectives there, pledged to use the latest technology to search for clues to who killed Shirine.

He told the inquest his visit to China was to reassure Miss Harburn's family that "all that could be done was being done."

He described the 100,000 population of Kangding, where Miss Harburn and Mr Horsfield were staying, as mainly Tibetan but with 17 ethnic groups .

The job of the Chinese police had been made even harder as the town's population had swollen dramatically at the time of the murder because of a local festival.

On May 9, 2000, Miss Harburn and Mr Horsfield, who had been travelling in Asia since January 2000, set off on a trek up Paomao Hill but split up, Mr Gillings said.

Mr Horsfield had wanted to take some photographs, while Shirine walked on. She was never seen alive again.

A major search of the hill found Miss Harburn's body two days later, 30 metres from a track.

Mr Gillings said: "At this time the police in China have not identified who was responsible for Shirine's death but we are confident from our visit that they will continue until they do find out who killed her."

After the hearing he said 26 officers had remained on the inquiry.

He said: "The Chinese felt they had a tremendous responsibility to solve a crime in which a foreigner had come to their country and met with such a terrible fate.

"They are very determined and committed to finding who did kill Shirine. There was no suggestion that the killer was someone Shirine had known. It appears to have been an encounter with a stranger, a one-off incident."

Samples of clothing worn by Miss Harburn and swabs taken from her body have been brought back from China for detailed forensic testing. Mr Gillings said there was no evidence Miss Harburn had been sexually assaulted.

During their visit, Sussex Police laid a wreath of flowers at the spot where Shirine died.