British backpacker Joanna Lees is seen in the UK more than two decades after her boyfriend was murdered in the Australian outback

The former girlfriend of backpacker Peter Falconio, who was murdered 23 years ago, is seen in Britain’s Australian outback more than 20 years after he was murdered.

Joanna Lees was attacked in Australia in 2001 while traveling with her boyfriend.

While she managed to escape, he was murdered – shot in the head by drug courier Bradley John Murdoch.

Years after that tragic moment, she said she applied to become an Australian citizen to be with her half-sister Jess McMillan – and was even changing her surname.

But she was recently found in her two-bed home in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire.

Mrs Lees grew up in Huddersfield with her mother Jennifer, her stepfather and stepbrother

Pictured: Peter Falconio and Joanne Lees

In July 2001, Ms Lees and Mr Falconio traveled through Australia

An image showing the location where the murder took place

Joanne Lees (left) discovered she had a younger Australian half-sister Jess (right) when she searched for the body of her murdered boyfriend Peter Falconio

In July 2001, Ms Lees and Mr Falconio were traveling in Australia when Murdoch waved their Volkswagen Kombi camper.

Murdoch shot Mr Falconio in the head, threatened Ms Lees with the gun and tied her up before she managed to escape. She hid in bushes for five hours while her attacker hunted her with his dog.

Murdoch was later convicted of murdering Mr Falconio, who was 28 at the time, and attacking Ms Lees, then aged 27, on the Stuart Highway near Barrow Creek, north of Alice Springs.

Despite extensive searches, Mr Falconio’s body was never found, and Ms Lees, now 48, never married or had children after the tragic death.

In 2017, she traveled to Australia to the scene of the shooting for a television show and that year discovered her younger half-sister, Jess McMillan.

In January, her cousin Corrine tweeted: “It was wonderful to meet my new cousin Joanne Lees from the UK and welcome her to our McMillan family!”

New Zealand primary school teacher Jess McMillan – the daughter of Ms Lees’ estranged father – told the 60 Minutes show that she knew nothing about the events of 2001 until she met her sister, eight years older.

Ms Lees told the show: ‘I feel less alone in the world. When wonderful things happen, I want to share them with Jess.”

The pair became close and Ms Lees revealed she was applying for Australian citizenship so she could move closer to her new-found relatives – who spread as far away as Queensland.

Mrs Lees grew up in Huddersfield with her mother Jennifer, her stepfather Vincent and her stepbrother Sam.

She is said to live in the rural town in the terraced house she has owned for 16 years and works as a social worker at Kirklees Council’s Directorate for Children and Young People.