Wiltshire Police have handed over two files to Wiltshire and Swindon coroner David Masters in preparation for the inquest into the death of Amanda Edwards.

The files are the culmination of ten months of police work into the murder last April of the 21-year-old nursery assistant from Purton.

It is hoped that the inquest, for which a date and location has yet to be set, will help bring some sort of closure for Amanda's family after her murderer, Ian Cortis, hanged himself on the day her body was found.

Detective Chief Superintendent Paul Howlett said: "There has been the same effort that would have gone into a murder trial for this report.

"The fact that Ian Cortis is dead has made no change. We still need to show that Amanda was unlawfully killed and who we believe was responsible for that death."

Coroner Mr Masters is currently examining the files and will decide how best to carry out the inquest including the possibility of holding a jury inquest.

Ch Supt Howlett said: "This will be a difficult time for Amanda's family in that it will inevitably bring back memories of that tragic Easter.

"But it's our hope that throughout the inquiry they will obtain a greater understanding of how Amanda came to die, which will help them find some closure.

"Throughout the investigation they have been kept fully informed of developments and we will obviously look to support them throughout the inquest."

Miss Edwards, who worked at the Little Foxes Nursery in Brinkworth, disappeared on April 8 last year after giving her fianc, David Board, a lift to Bremhill.

Her parents, Lee and Beverley Edwards, of Blacklands, Purton, soon became worried about her whereabouts and contacted police.

A major incident room was set up at Westlea Police Station and 50 officers aided by the police helicopter and the search and rescue team were called in to help with the search.

On April 16, eight days after Amanda disappeared, her body was discovered by a police search dog on a building site near Malmesbury where Cortis, 42, a plasterer of Lineacre Close, Swindon, worked.

On the same day Cortis was found hanging in his father-in-law's house.

In an interview last year Miss Edwards' family expressed their concerns that theories about their daughter's death would always exist until all the evidence was out in the open.

Mrs Edwards said: "People need to know exactly what happened. It is going to be very upsetting to us, but I am just praying it is going to help someone else."

Speaking about Cortis's suicide she said: "I don't feel that we have had justice. It was the easy way out, the coward's way out.