THREE years ago today, Philip Kerton was looking forward to seeing his daughter Louise again.

Louise, who was 24 years old, had been to stay with her fianc Peter Simon in Germany for a few weeks and was due to return to Britain. But she never arrived home.

At first, Mr Kerton said he felt Louise had been depressed about failing her exams, and he felt the death in Japan of her schoolfriend Lucie Blackman - murdered by a Japanese businessman - had affected her performance.

Later, he came to believe that his daughter had been murdered. Louise's family spent months campaigning for German police to launch a murder inquiry, and this finally began a year after she vanished.

But on the third anniversary of her disappearance, Mr Kerton, who is originally from Abergavenny, but now living in Kent, said he is still in the dark about what happened to his daughter.

We revealed on Wednesday that German police have now compiled a report on their investigation and forwarded it to the State Prosecutor.

But Mr Kerton said: "The State Prosecutor was given that report about Easter time and there is no news as to whether he has reached a decision or not, what action he will take or, indeed, what's in the report. "Approaches have been made through the police and diplomatic channels and we will see if anything emerges in the next few weeks.

"It's like watching paint dry and I'm not holding my breath." He said that he and his wife, Kath, still felt "numb" about Louise's disappearance and that some times were harder than others. "It comes harder from time to time. It's not so much anniversaries and family occasions, like Christmas, it's unexpected things that come up on you unawares.

"I can be walking through WHSmiths and see a CD by someone she would like. I think 'Louise would like that', and then realise she's not there any more."

Mr Kerton said the family would be spending today with relatives who live on the south coast of England, "getting away from it all and getting along with life as best we can". A letter had arrived this week, he said, from the German Ambassador in London, expressing his sympathies.

It is about a year since Mr Kerton last went to Germany. Mr Kerton said: "The police were quite actively working on the case from about two years ago and about a year ago they moved up a gear, taking witness statements to confirm this and that.

"This continued up until November or December last year, then there was a hiatus when nothing was happening and now, finally, a report has been submitted."