Milly Dowler was a 13-year-old English schoolgirl who went missing on March 21, 2002, after failing to return home from school. A huge search took place, and police knocked on every door in the area and spoke with people who were in the area at the time. They noticed a car that had stopped on the CCTV footage and appealed for information, but the driver quickly came forward. It was a mother and son, and they had no knowledge of what happened to Milly. Months of searching led to nothing until the Dowler family received the most devastating news some six months later. On September 18, 2002, mushroom pickers discovered remains in Yateley Heath Woods near Yateley in Hampshire. The remains were so badly decomposed that dental records were required to identify that they were the remains of Milly Dowler. Due to the decomposition, the cause of death could not be determined. Her clothes and her belongings were missing.

Levi Bellfield, a serial killer, was found guilty of Milly Dowlers murder. He abducted Milly and assaulted her at his flat close to Walton railway station. He then took her to the driveway of his mothers home where he raped her in broad daylight over the boot of his car. After this, he took Milly to another location where her rape and torture continued until he strangled her the following day. The teenagers body was found in September 2002, six months after her murder, in a wood in Yateley Heath, Hampshire - 25 miles from Walton-on-Thames. Experts could not say how she died. The family also revealed that when Bellfield asked to speak to police about the crime, he said he would only talk to female police officers.

The Dowlers said they were informed of Bellfields full confession eight months ago, but it was not until now that they have been able to speak out due to the police investigation into a possible accomplice. The family statement added the rape and torture carried out by Bellfield "continued for a number of hours until the next day when he finally strangled her to death." They said there were "no words to describe the additional torment and pain" the full horrific details had caused them, but "perhaps her soul, at long last, can finally rest in peace".