JOHN and Sue Dickinson, parents of the British schoolgirl, Caroline Dickinson (13), murdered on a school trip in PleinFougeres, France, on July 18th, said yesterday they hoped the authorities will redouble their efforts to catch the culprit".
They spoke out in a statement issued by the vicar of Launceston, the Rev Tim Newcombe, who has been in regular contact with the family since the tragedy.
Their statement followed genetic tests on the girl's body which cleared the man charged with her rape and murder at a youth hostel.
Officials said DNA samples taken from Mr Patrice Pade (39), a homeless man said to have a history of sex attacks but with no other killing on his hands, did not match sperm found on the victim's body.
Detectives investigating the killing are now seeking a second suspect over the rape, which shocked Britain and France.
In their statement, the girl's parents said. "When on July 18th the news of our daughter's deaths reached us our lives were changed for ever.
"The news, some days later that someone had been apprehended for this terrible crime was a small consolation.
"Now it seems that we have been denied even this.
We hope that the authorities will redouble their efforts to catch the culprit."
A British embassy spokesman in Paris said the examining magistrate had confirmed that genetic material taken from Caroline's body did not appear to correspond with that from the "prime suspect".
The embassy said the outcome of the tests had been relayed to Caroline's parents and the head teacher of Launceston College, Mr David Wroath.
No decision has been taken to release Mr Pade, currently in custody in St Malo prison, Brittany.
He was jailed for three years in 1989, with two years suspended, for indecent assault on a teenager.
In 1993, he was sentenced for an offence against public decency and freed the following year.
A Launceston Liberal Democrat councillor, Mr Mike Nicholls said yesterday "Clearly, people will be very concerned the perpetrator is not in custody ... that he is still out there, a danger to other people."