FOR 30 years they had lived with the most unimaginable pain of losing their beloved daughter.

Hopes of one day having grandchildren of their own, shattered at the hands of the man who raped and strangled her.

But since Sean Hodgson was jailed for life for Teresa’s killing, Mary and Michael Sedotti somehow managed to continue with their lives knowing they had justice for their only child.

That was until their world was turned upside down ten months ago.

The couple, who live in Southampton, were told the incomprehensible news that the wrong man was behind bars – and a new search for Teresa’s real killer was under way.

Throughout this year they have endured a rollercoaster of emotion as they watched Mr Hodgson freed from 27 years in prison.

They were the first to admit that hopes to find a new suspect were not high, it having taken police several years to bring the case to court initially.

But then detectives made their breakthrough.

They exhumed Lace from his Portsmouth grave five weeks ago and all Mary and Michael could then do was wait for news.

And while they may now rest easy knowing the right man has now been found, Mary and Michael’s torment will always go on – for they will never be able to find out why he did it.

Speaking to the Daily Echo last month, Mary said: “It’s difficult to know how to feel. We spent so long thinking the man responsible was in prison.

"If only he had left a note before he took his own life – it could have potentially saved a lot of taxpayers’ money which was spent on keeping another man in prison and now paying him compensation.

“In a way it is hard knowing he is not here to answer or explain. But then at the same time I think that what he did shows he must have had a conscience. He must have been very troubled.

“He must have known he had done something so terribly wrong but he didn’t tell anybody, so who knows what was on his mind?”

The couple told how the dramatic development in finding a suspect had come as “a surprise” and spoke of their sadness for the family of the man now known to be Lace.

Speaking of Teresa, whose framed picture sits on the sideboard in their front room, Michael said: “Knowing Teresa as we knew her, she would never hurt a fly. She had everything to live for.

She was a very shy person who had made good friends who were nice people.”

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