“SHE told me she would not come home until she was clean – I never saw her again.”

For Karen Edwards, mother of murdered Becky Godden-Edwards, her daughter’s last promise to her is still fresh in her memory.

Yesterday Mrs Edwards, 50, of Nine Elms, told a press conference at Gablecross police station how the family had been “totally devastated” by the death of the tragic blonde, who lost contact with her family in 2002.

Supported by her husband Charlie Edwards, 65 – Becky’s step-father – and her sister Tracey Mullane, Mrs Edwards could not hold back the tears as she told how she had tried to do everything to help her daughter through drug addiction.

She said: “Becky was a beautiful intelligent girl, my daughter; she was loved by all her family, and we loved her with all our hearts and our loss is so unbearable.

“Becky gave me so much joy and love as a child. However, as a teenager, she got involved with people who introduced her to drugs. She left school and her life spiralled into some very dark places to feed her addiction. She became a very different person.

“During her teenage years, we did everything we could to help her overcome her drug addiction. We sought help from drug charities, doctors; we asked for help from the MP Julia Drown (former MP for South Swindon), we then got her into private rehabilitation clinics, we tried everything to stop her from leaving home but on every occasion the pull of her habit was stronger and she would do whatever she had to do to get her next fix. It was not unusual behaviour for Becky to disappear for weeks or months on end.

“When she was in serious trouble she always phoned me, we would go and get her and bring her home only for her to disappear again. Life was very tough for all of us and we witnessed many awful things that we would not wish on any parent.

“Following a conviction for theft in 2001, Becky made the choice to leave home rather than stay where we could care for her and once again try to rehabilitate her. She told me that she loved me so much she could not keep putting me through hell and she was leaving and would not come home until she was clean.

“I never saw her again but I thought she was living in Bristol, where she had been before.”

Becky’s body was found in a field at Eastleach, in Gloucestershire last month and the news of her death was broken to the family last Monday on what would have been her 29th birthday.

Last week a court heard police plan to question mini-cab driver Chris Halliwell over Becky’s death.

The 47-year-old, of Nythe, has been remanded in custody charged with murdering 22-year-old Sian O’Callaghan.

Mrs Edwards also said she had never given up hope of her daughter coming home, even marking her birthday each year with a card.

“Over the years I have tried to find her through the police, the hospital, and other organisations that trace missing people but to no avail,” she said.

“I was also told by sources, close to the family, time and time again that they had seen Becky during the missing years, so I still had a strong belief that one day she would come home to us. I have continued to buy her birthday and Christmas presents every year since she left, hoping that one day I would be able to give them to her.

“And now this. My daughter has been murdered and to be given the news on what would have been her 29th birthday, we can’t believe it. After everything she has been through in her troubled life. Life was hard before when we thought she was living the life of an addict but we really did think she was alive and that one day she would come back home.

“Becky has now been found and the news of her horrific death has devastated all her family. If anyone has any information that may help the police to establish when Becky was murdered or to fill in those missing years we plead with you to come forward.

“We would like to thank Steve Fulcher, his team and all the well-wishers for all the help and support they have given us, and also to send our sincere condolences to the family of Sian.”

Mrs Edwards left the press conference in tears clutching the photo of her smiling daughter aged five close to her chest, and was led out by police family liaison officers.