THE family of missing traveller Britt Lapthorne fears the investigation into her disappearance is being hampered by a pall of "community silence" designed to protect the ancient town's reputation as a tourist destination.
Late yesterday, hours before the family was to meet the specialist investigative detective from Zagreb assigned to the case, Ms Lapthorne's father, Dale, expressed anxiety that national pride - and small-town values - were hampering efforts to tease out information from residents about what might have happened to his daughter on September 18.
Mr Lapthorne said an anonymous tip-off to his hotel in Dubrovnik, made by a caller in Croatian, alleged the owner of the hostel from which Ms Lapthorne disappeared had tried to post her Australian passport in the days after her disappearance.
He said the information was not a case-breaker but provided details of "things that someone has known for a long time". The Herald now understands Mr Lapthorne is not sure if it related to his daughter's passport or another left by a backpacker.
Mr Lapthorne said he had a message for anyone holding his daughter captive: if they wanted money she must be returned safely. "They may have ulterior motives; they may see some monetary value in it," he said. "I'm interested in getting my daughter and if they're looking for a reward, it will only be after the safe delivery of my daughter - the return of my daughter."
Mr Lapthorne said he was becoming increasingly frustrated with Australian authorities and Interpol for leaving the family in a vacuum of information.
He said local people had told him they believed if there was a body to be found, this would have happened by now but that people needed to talk yet were afraid.
"There is a fear that everyone knows everyone and close down to protect the community … my feeling is that if it's a foreigner involved, it's one thing … but if it's a Croatian national then that's another and they don't want to be put in a situation."
Mr Lapthorne said he knew he was being a "squeaky wheel" in order to get some answers from the Department of Foreign Affairs but said Australians would understand his situation.
"Prime Minister [Kevin] Rudd says every stone is being turned but I want to know what that actually means. I don't want to bash the Croatian authorities but I am targeting the Australian authorities."
He has expressed frustration at the invisibility of the Australian Federal Police officer assigned to liaise and after being in the country for five days, said Interpol has provided no contact points nor information.
"This AFP officer, he is a phantom," he said. "We've been told by Croatian police that he's around. In five days he has not attempted to contact us …"
The AFP yesterday disputed Mr Lapthorne's claims.
A spokeswoman for the AFP said the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade was providing consular assistance to the family via the AFP's liaison officer's daily meetings with Croatian police.
Australian backpackers who have stayed at the the same hostel in Dubrovnik as Ms Lapthorne have painted a picture of a welcoming, friendly place.
A Sydney man, who does not wish to be named, told the Herald when he stayed at the Dubrovnik Backpackers Club in June last year, the owners' son, Ivica Perkovic, was "chummy" and went out of his way to befriend guests, even offering to travel to Bosnia with a female guest.
"I actually thought it was a really friendly sort of hostel and it didn't strike me as a place of debauchery," he said of the multi-level building.
with Bellinda Kontominas
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