THE father of a schoolgirl presumed murdered 38 years ago is now satisfied he knows the identity of her killer.

But John Tate, who is battling cancer, says he is desperate for her body to be found after police closed the case after the only suspect died.

Genette Tate, who was born in Taunton, where she lived in Wedlands and attended Priorswood Primary School, disappeared on her newspaper round in Devon in 1978 when she was aged 13.

Her bike was discovered in a lane in Aylesbeare with papers strewn around, but her body has never been located.

Police were hoping to charge serial child killer Robert Black, 68, with her murder before his death in January in jail in Northern Ireland, where he was serving 12 life sentences for the kidnap and murder of four girls in the 1980s.

Mr Tate, who lived in West Buckland in the 1990s, says police have told him that delivery driver Black, who never admitted killing Genette, had revealed he visited Aylesbeare and a 500-page report points to him being the murderer.

Mr Tate told the Daily Mirror: "I'm now convinced Robert Black was the culprit. I feel very emotional.

"I'd like to find her body after 38 years searching for answers, but what do I do now?

I've spent all these years looking and still don't have any definitive answer.

"I'm lost now. This has dominated my life. I end up crying about it."

A Devon and Cornwall Police spokesman declined to comment apart from confirming officers had kept the Tate family informed throughout.