A TEAM of detectives from Wiltshire will re-investigate the death of student Rachel Whitear.

The distorted and swollen body of 21-year old Ms Whitear was found in an Exmouth bedsit three years ago, kneeling on the carpet with a used syringe gripped in one hand.

Wiltshire Constabulary will launch the third inquiry into the death after Ms Whitear's mother, Pauline Holcroft, complained about the two investigations carried out by Devon and Cornwall police.

Question marks remain over the death after toxicology reports showed heroin levels found in Ms Whitear's blood were not high enough to kill her.

Fingerprints were not taken from the Exmouth flat until two weeks after the body was found and the grieving family believe officers treated the case as just another drugs overdose.

Senior officers from Wiltshire police are in talks with officials from the Police Complaints Authority (PCA), who will oversee the inquiry, and officers from the Devon and Cornwall force.

The team of detectives will focus their attention on events leading-up to the student's death to establish whether anyone was with her at the time she died.

It is likely the body will be exhumed so further tests can be carried out.

The head of Wiltshire CID Det Chief Supt Paul Howlett will lead the inquiry and will be meeting with Ms Whitear's family within the next week.

He said yesterday: "We are concerned to ensure that the family's concerns are fully investigated and we will be meeting with them in due course."

Mrs Holcroft said her husband Michael and three grown-up children were wanting to discover the truth surrounding their relative's death.

She said: "I have never used the word "murdered" but there is the possibility she was not alone when she died.

"Families are not geared up to ask these sort of questions. Only two years down the line are we now dealing with this at the time no one was interested. We now feel capable of asking these questions."