The father of a Melbourne woman who died in Mozambique last week says he is "absolutely certain" his daughter was murdered by suffocation.
Elly Warren, 20, was found dead outside a public toilet block on Tofo Beach, a popular tourist and diving spot off Africa's south-east coast, on November 9.
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Melbourne woman killed in Mozambique
While travelling through Africa on a diving trip, Melbourne's Elly Warren died in suspicious circumstances. Vision courtesy Network Ten
An autopsy was conducted last week and then her body was taken to Johannesburg, where her family has been working with a local funeral director to bring Elly back to Melbourne.
In a statement, circulated by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade late Friday night, Paul Warren said he was in South Africa to "in order to bring my beautiful daughter, Elly, home".
"Based on all the facts that I now know, I am absolutely certain that my daughter has been murdered by suffocation," he said.
Mr Warren said the family would like privacy as they seek to bring his daughter's body home.
DFAT have not commented on the allegations of murder. It said the statement had been circulated at Mr Warren's request.
Police in Mozambique told Fairfax Media their initial investigations did not point to foul play. Local police confirmed this week a local investigation was underway.
An Australian Federal Police spokesman said it was aware of the "alleged murder of Ms Elly Warren" and had been liaising with the DFAT.
The spokesman said AFP had been in contact with authorities in Mozambique, and all questions should be referred to them.
"As this incident occurred in Mozambique, the investigation is the responsibility of the Mozambique authorities," the spokesman said.
"The AFP has discussed this matter with Mozambique authorities to ascertain any assistance that could be provided."
The 20-year-old budding marine biologist, from Mordialloc, had just finished a stint as a volunteer with eco-education company Africa Underwater, diving alongside marine scientists.
Graeme Warrack, the booking manager for Underwater Africa, the dive research operation in Tofo which hosted Elly for a month, said everyone was eager to hear what had happened to her.
"It's a very safe area, we have been in the area since 1993, long before tourists even came there," he said.
"There has never been something this crazy happen. There's also a lot of confusion about what happened and that makes it even more difficult.
"We have had a lot of guests contacting us asking what happened but we don't have any information to share with them."
He said that since Elly had left Underwater Africa and its lodgings, Casa Barry, to spend her last few days at another guesthouse in Tofo, the local police were unable to give him any information about the investigation.
He said Casa Barry had its own security guards that patrol 24/7 but they had rarely encountered any problems.
Mr Warrack said he was not aware of any previous cases of sexual harassment or assault - despite some media reports about 'Beach Boys' roaming the area preying on Western tourists.
He said some locals interacted with visitors but none of his guests had reported any problems.
Mr Warrack is based in Durban, South Africa, so had only corresponded with Elly by email but said his staff at the dive centre were very fond of the bubbly Australian.
"She was a lovely girl, the life of the party, she enjoyed going out and having fun. She was always the person to get everyone together and make sure everyone was having a good time," he said.
"She was very enthusiastic about her diving, our program. For her it was an incredible experience and it's just so sad that it went so wrong."
He said the young scientists working on Underwater Africa's research program had been badly shaken by what happened.
"We have four or five young, up-and-coming scientists there working for us, gaining experience," Mr Warrack said.
"They're really good people and trying to do the best they can for the marine environment.
"Our visitors are with us for a month and they spend 24 hours a day together - they eat breakfast together, go diving together. They're not used to dealing with something like this, I don't think any of us are."
An online fundraiser set up for Elly this week has raised nearly $10,000, which will be donated to the International Marine Volunteers.