Mother of Rachel Whitear - who died of a heroin overdose 16 years ago - reveals the 21-year-old was planning a new life just days before her death 

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The mother of Rachel Whitear has spoken of how she has lived with her loss 16 years after the 21-year-old died of a drug overdose.

The shop assistant was found dead on the floor of her bedsit in Exmouth, Devon, with a syringe in her hand in May 2000. 

At the time, her parents Pauline and Mick Holcroft allowed shocking pictures of her dead body to be released to the public to warn against the dangers of heroin and the images have been used in anti-drugs campaign films shown in secondary schools.

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Pauline and Mick Holcroft appeared on today's This Morning to talk about the loss of their daughter Rachel who died from a heroin overdose

Pauline said she struggles to imagine what her daughter would be like now, as she would have been approaching her 38th birthday 

On today's This Morning, Pauline, a 67-year-old estate manager from Ledbury, Herefordshire, told presenters Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield a hole remains in their family due to Rachel's death.

She said: 'Life goes on, we now have seven grandchildren but Rachel is not there.'

She added that now 16 years have passed since she died, it is hard to imagine how Rachel's life would have turned out.  

'I can't imagine her now, she would be coming up to 38 but to me she is always be 21,' she said. 

Pauline and Mick continue to keep Rachel's memory alive in the hope of preventing further tragedies and appeared on today's This Morning to praise an overdose plot on Emmerdale where the character Holly Barton lost her life in similar circumstances to Rachel.

The parents allowed the harrowing image of Rachel's body with a syringe in her hand to be broadcast again. They released the image to be part of anti-drugs campaigns in schools   

The parents joined actress Natalie J Robb, left, on today's This Morning as her character on Emmerdale has just lost her daughter to a heroin overdose

Pauline said she was glad the ITV soap had dealt with the issue to keep it in the public eye.

She recalled how like Holly in the soap, Rachel had become addicted to drugs after falling in with the wrong crowd.

She said: 'We have managed to piece what happened to her better over the years, she started experimenting with cannabis with group of friends when she was 14.

'Then she had an on-off relationship with a boyfriend and he has since admitted he introduced her to heroin.'

Her boyfriend was Luke Fitzgerald, now 42, who she had moved in with in Devon after dropping out of Bath University.

Rachel as a schoolgirl, her parents believe she first tried cannabis when she was 14 and a boyfriend later introduced her to heroin

Pauline said the last time she spoke to her daughter, she had told her she was leaving him for good, and asked her to come down to help her move her things out of the home they shared.

However, she died before the parents saw her that weekend.  

Pauline said of how her daughter changed due to drugs: 'She became very unreliable and when she died we weren't aware until we travelled to Devon to help her move.

'She had left her boyfriend and she died in the bedsit on the Wednesday but she wasn't found till the Friday and we weren't told till the Saturday.

'The last time I spoke to her, she told me she was leaving him. I offered to get her and bring her home.

'She told me she wanted to be independent and sounded very upbeat.'

A first inquest into Rachel's death was inconclusive but a jury at a second hearing in September 2007, concluded she had died from heroin intoxication.

Pauline said he daughter will 'always be 21' to her after she died 16 years ago

However, the jury was unable to say whether she injected herself or if she was alone when she died.

Fitzgerald and his brother Simon had been arrested on suspicion of being involved in Rachel's death, and a later bid to tamper with the death scene.

But the Crown Prosecution Service concluded there was insufficient evidence to justify criminal charges. 

He told the second inquest he was not present at the time of her death. 

In 2008, the Independent Police Complaints Commission published the final Wiltshire Police investigation report into the death of Rachel in which they said some answers surrounding the moments leading up to her last breath may never be known.

IPCC Commissioner Ian Bynoe said: 'Rachel's death and the subsequent investigation have been followed by the media in this country and beyond it.

'Many people have seen the iconic photograph of Rachel's body with a syringe next to her because of a brave decision by Pauline and Mick to allow its use as part of an anti-drugs awareness and education campaign.

Pauline listens to Detective Chief Superintendent Paul Howlett during a press conference in 2004 into the circumstances surrounding Rachel's death. It was later concluded that it was not known if she was alone at the time she died

'I have thanked Wiltshire Police and Chief Superintendent Paul Howlett and his team for a complex and thorough investigation, which has helped to answer some of the questions about how Rachel died. He has also provided his detailed observations on the initial inquiry by Devon and Cornwall and the manner in which its approach and performance could have been different.

'The investigation has been protracted and complex. Approval had to be sought for the exhumation of Rachel's body in April 2004 for a post-mortem.

'The toxicology and other tests from this post-mortem provided enough evidence to suggest a cause of death. It led Wiltshire Police to apply to the High Court to seek a fresh inquest when the Coroner declined to agree that one was justified. The Holcrofts and the IPCC fully supported this approach.

'The resulting inquest held last year recorded a verdict of death by opiate intoxication, but was not able to answer whether Rachel injected herself and whether or not a third party was present when she died.

The parents have praised Emmerdale for raising the issue of drug abuse as the character Holly died in the soap

'I want to reassure Pauline and Mick and the public that this investigation has been as committed, as thorough and wide-ranging as was possible in the circumstances. 

'Its inability to provide answers to all the questions reflects the absence of clear evidence, not any failure to follow up leads or lines of inquiry.

'This means that for Pauline and Mick we remain unable to provide all the answers to the questions they need to have answered.

'I want to thank Pauline and Mick for their understanding and patience during the very lengthy journey we have made with this investigation and offer them once again my condolences for the loss of their precious daughter, Rachel.'

While they may never known the full truth over the circumstances, Pauline and Mick know that it was heroin that was ultimately the cause of her demise and for that reason they continue to campaign to warn others against using it.

Mick, 68, said they have been contacted by many former drug addicts and their parents who have thanked them for sharing Rachel's story as it was a wake-up call they needed to seek help before it was too late.  

They appeared on the This Morning sofa alongside Natalie J. Robb, who plays Moira in Emmerdale, whose daughter was lost to a heroin overdose.

The actress said the harrowing scenes were difficult to film, especially as she was ware of parents like Pauline experiencing it for real.

Like Pauline and Mick, she said she hopes they have deterred people from trying the drug.

'I hope we get the message across... don't do it,' she said.