NAHID Al-Manea's family urged her killer or killers to hand themselves in during their first statement since she was stabbed to death.

Nahid's 31, of Woodrow Way, Colchester, was murdered on the Salary Brook Trail, Greenstead, shortly before 11am on Tuesday, June 17.

Reading a statement from the family, Det Con Jane Morgan, who had visited them in Saudi Arabia, said: "As a family we have been left devastated by the terrible murder.

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"Nahid was a remarkable and gentle person who was loved for her kind and caring nature"

Nahid, a Saudi Arabian woman, was studying at Essex University and living with her brother having been in the UK for six months.

Her family said: "Publicly Nahid was a quiet and dignified lady who chose to pursue her academic studies in order to work towards her PhD and while in England she made the decision she would respect her heritage and traditions in the way she dressed and conducted herself.

"When she was with her family Nahid was a warm and loving person who enjoyed laughter and the company of her parents, siblings and extended family."

Her family appealed directly to the killer or killers to hand themselves in.

"The amount of people that attended Nahid's funeral is a tribute to how much she was cared for and respected.

"We wish to appeal directly to the person responsible to come forward and hand themselves in to the police in order to relieve our suffering and let justice take its course.

"It is vital anyone with information, no matter how small, contacts the police."

The family is working with police in Saudi Arabia and England to help them try and solve her murder.