ADDICT RACHEL'S BODY IS EXHUMED

The parents of heroin addict Rachel Whitear watched while her body was
exhumed as part of a re-investigation into her death.

Work began at first light on Tuesday at the 21-year-old's grave at St
Peter's churchyard near Hereford.

After nearly five hours, Miss Whitear's coffin was loaded into a new casket
and driven away in a hearse.

The former Bath university student was originally thought to have died from
a drugs overdose in May 2000.

Her mother and stepfather, Pauline and Mick Holcroft, had originally
planned to stay away but arrived at the churchyard at 0900 GMT to watch the
final stages of the exhumation.

Open verdict

A short prayer was read by the Reverend Nicholas Varnon.

Miss Whitear's remains are being taken to Hereford County Hospital where a
post-mortem examination is expected to be carried out on Tuesday afternoon.

A new inquiry into Miss Whitear's death was launched after her mother and
stepfather raised concerns about the initial investigation into her death.

No post-mortem examination was carried out at the time and an inquest into
her death recorded an open verdict.

Toxicology tests will be carried out on Miss Whitear's remains to try to
discover a cause of death.

Detective Chief Supt Paul Howlett, who is leading the inquiry, said tests
would be carried out by two Home Office pathologists and would last about
six hours.

"If there are further lines of inquiry, we will pursue them. The important
thing here is we need to be methodical," he said.

"We need to get greater clarity about the levels of heroin. That might help
the experts offer an opinion on the circumstances of Rachel's death."

Drug abuse warning

During the exhumation, the church was cordoned off, a footpath through the
graveyard closed and a tent put up over the grave while forensic experts
and gravediggers unearthed the coffin.

After Rachel's death, her mother and stepfather released pictures showing
her dead on the floor of her Devon bedsit, to be used in a video
illustrating the dangers of drug abuse to pupils.

Wiltshire Police, supervised by the Police Complaints Authority, started
the re-investigation after the concerns were raised about the handling of
the original inquiry by Devon and Cornwall Police.

After post-mortem tests Miss Whitear's remains will be re-interred at the
churchyard following a short ceremony.