Britt 'last seen in car with men'

The family of Melbourne backpacker Britt Lapthorne, who went missing in Croatia 10 days ago, say she was last seen talking with a group of men inviting her and some friends to get into their car outside a Dubrovnik nightclub.

Her distraught father Dale Lapthorne also said he had received no help from Dubrovnik police or Australian authorities in his bid to find his 21-year-old daughter.

But Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has said the government is committing every resource possible to find Ms Lapthorne.

"We will not rest until we find this young one," he said on the TODAY show this morning.

"It's appalling, it's every parent's worst nightmare.

"We are putting maximum pressure on the authorities ... this is very hard — it's a different country, different culture.

"We are doing what we can to try and find her.

"Can I just say to the family, I fully understand your anxiety, your fears and we will do everything we physically can."

Meanwhile, a spokesman for Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith said an Australian Federal Police (AFP) officer had been deployed from London to assist with the investigation.

"We are very concerned that despite search efforts by local authorities, Ms Lapthorne remains missing in Dubrovnik," the spokesman said.

"Croatian authorities have agreed for the AFP to assist in their investigations and an AFP officer is currently being deployed from London," he said.

The AFP also would continue to liaise with international law enforcement agencies in an effort to assist the investigation.

"We remain in close and regular contact with local authorities and the family and will continue to do everything we can to assist," the spokesman said.

Mr Lapthorne earlier complained about a lack of assistance from Australian authorities.

Mr Smith "is suffering from jet lag and has to take the rest of the day off", he told Channel Nine.

"In the meantime my daughter's life hangs in the balance," he said.

Mr Lapthorne said the family was not receiving any help from police in the Croatian coastal resort and claimed they had not launched an investigation into the case.

His son Darren has flown to Croatia to retrace the last steps of his sister after she left the Fuego Club on September 18.

Mr Lapthorne told Fairfax Radio he had been advised everything was being done to try to find his daughter but now he had learned nothing was done at all.

"She was seen at the club by her friends and other backpackers and one of them noticed she was hanging out with a particular group that included two Australians from Monash University," Mr Lapthorne said.

"We need these students to come forward - we don't know their names but they may have been one of the last people to have been in contact with Britt."

He said Darren was shattered that after talking with Dubrovnik police he realised they had done nothing to find his sister.

"He was shattered, he cried, he saw they were doing absolutely nothing," Mr Lapthorne said.

Police claimed they had interviewed the bouncer at the club and other staff but when Darren went to the Fuego he found out they had not seen the police at all.

"I was told by the Department of Foreign Affairs on September 25 that the CCTV footage had been inconclusive but now I learn that they had just collected it that day," Mr Lapthorne said.

"And yet they told us it was bad quality and inconclusive - just lies, lies, lies."

He said the people in the historic town had been good to his son with one hotel providing free accommodation and also contacting a private investigator to help him find out what happened to his sister.

But police in Dubrovnik have told Mr Smith's office that there was no footage of the club during the relevant period because of a power cut.

"Local police subsequently advised that they had sought a copy of the CCTV footage of the streets and area near the club, which they undertook to review in an effort to track Ms Lapthorne's movements," the spokesman said.

The Croatian police told Mr Smith's office that their efforts to find Ms Lapthorne have also included a boat search of the coast and helicopter searches of rugged terrain in the vicinity of Dubrovnik.

The Croatian police also have made a request to the AFP through Interpol to facilitate interviews of certain individuals who had been travelling with Ms Lapthorne but had since departed Croatia.

The spokesman said consular officials from the Australian embassy in Zagreb had maintained close communication with local authorities, urging them to do everything in their power to find Ms Lapthorne.

"The Australian ambassador and a consular officer travelled to Dubrovnik and met with local authorities including the police to demonstrate the Australian government's close interest in the case and to urge them to redouble their search efforts for Ms Lapthorne."

"A senior official of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has spoken to the Charge d'Affaires of the Croatian embassy in Canberra asking him to convey to Zagreb the Australian government's request that all possible assistance be provided to help resolve this case."