The Victorian Coroner says he will have to deliver an open finding into the death of Australian tourist Britt Lapthorne who died in Croatia more than six years ago.

The Melbourne student's remains were found by a fisherman in the water off the coast of Dubrovnik 18 days after she went missing in September 2008.

She was last seen partying at a nightclub with fellow backpackers a kilometre away from where she was found.

Ms Lapthorne's family previously said they believed her body was dumped in the sea and weighed down in the hours after she disappeared.

The Coroner's Court today heard that both the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and Croatian police had been unable to uncover evidence to definitively say Ms Lapthorne was murdered.



But Croatian authorities ruled out the possibility Ms Lapthorne committed suicide and found it unlikely she died after going swimming.

Her father Dale Lapthorne had been highly critical of the way the investigation into her disappearance was conducted by Croatian authorities.

His criticism included their slow start to the search, the lack of communication with the family, the authority's initial insistence the body found in the water could not be Ms Lapthorne's and their failure to determine how she died.

But counsel assisting the coroner, Sergeant David Dimsey, told the court an AFP review of the Croatian investigation found local police had been "professional and determined in their efforts" to find out what happened to Ms Lapthorne.

However, the review did acknowledge several deficiencies in the investigation early on.

Lapthorne family 'must learn to live' with mysterious death

Ms Lapthorne's father Dale, mother Elke and brother Darren were in court to hear the closing summary, and thanked the court for trying to establish what happened.

Outside court, the Lapthorne family maintained their daughter was murdered.

"Whoever did this to our daughter, they have to live with their guilt. I hope, I hope it tortures them like we're tortured everyday," Ms Lapthorne said.

"But in the end, nothing we do will bring our daughter back to us.

"Our feeling is we've just had to learn to live with it."

Mr Lapthorne said the exact details of his daughter's death may never be known.

"[Today's findings] is not so much a closure of the case ... but a suspension of the case, and we accept that and we're quite happy with it," he said.

"At the end of the day, it is a Croatian criminal investigation and, as the coroner had pointed out today, it is still an ongoing criminal investigation.

"As to whether it will ever progress or [if] we will ever find out what actually happened to Britt, I'm not sure."

Ms Lapthorne's brother Darren said it had been a tough seven years.

"Although we may never really find out what happened to Britt, I know I still live in the hope that one day as long as I live I'll find out an answer," he said.

Britt Lapthorne 'did not die in vain'

Dale Lapthorne told the court part of his daughter's legacy was that backpackers were now more careful when travelling overseas.

"Some years ago I travelled in Britt's footsteps [through Europe]. I picked up my backpack and felt she was travelling with me," he said.

"It was an amazing experience.

"So many people were aware of the story and the good part about it, and the legacy was that their parents had warned them to be careful."

Britt Lapthorne's family thanked the court for trying to find out what happened in Croatia. ( ABC News )

He said he also believed Croatian police had changed their practices since his daughter's death.

"They now respond instantaneously to any issue. Certainly what we've heard [is] they've picked up their game dramatically," Mr Lapthorne said.

"I don't like saying this, but maybe she didn't die in vain."

Mr Lapthorne said it was of comfort to have it on the record that his daughter didn't commit suicide, and it was unlikely she deliberately jumped into the ocean or decided to go swimming.

"To get to that point is a huge achievement for us," he said.

"We will continue, but we'll probably never find out how Brit lost her life."

Today marked the final day of the inquest, with coroner Ian Gray expected to hand down his findings in the coming weeks.