Joanne Lees' secret life with New Zealand teacher sister
Joanne Lees is using the family name of her long lost sister whose Australian family have welcomed her with open arms.
The survivor of Australia's most shocking outback crime at the weekend revealed her stunning new connection with her long lost sibling in a TV interview.
'I feel less alone in the world. When wonderful things happen in the world I want to share them with Jess,' an emotional Ms Lees told reporter Liz Hayes on 60 Minutes.
And now Ms Lees even shares a last name - on social media at least - with her 'mirror image' younger sister, the New Zealand primary school teacher Jessica McMillan.
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Sightseeing sisters: Joanne Lees and her long lost sibling Jessica McMillan are pictured climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge together in these pictures
Mirror image! Ms Lees - left, apparently visiting the Blue Mountains - and her Kiwi primary school teacher sister, Ms McMillan have remarked on their physical similarities
Queensland school principal Corrine McMillan (left) tweeted on January 9: 'It was great to meet my new found cousin Joanne Lees from the UK and welcome her to our McMillan family!'
The pair have the same Australian father and Ms Lees, 43, successfully tracked down her Kiwi sibling, eight years her junior, just last year.
Ms Lees' new Australian family spreads as far as Queensland with prominent school principal Corrine McMillan welcoming her 'cousin' to the family on Twitter.
In January, Ms McMillan tweeted: 'It was great to meet my new found cousin Joanne Lees from the UK and welcome her to our McMillan family!
'Life is always a mystery!'
Jessica McMillan told 60 Minutes she wasn't aware of the hideous 2001 crime- where Ms Lees' boyfriend Peter Falconio was shot dead - until they met.
Recent pictures show Ms Lees and her sister enjoying each others' company, climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Other photographs show Ms Lees apparently gazing at the Three Sisters in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney.
Candid moment: Joanne Lees and her newfound sister share a happy snap above Sydney
Ms Lees told 60 Minutes: 'When wonderful things happen in the world I want to share them with Jess' (pair pictured together)
Reports said Ms Lees has been living in Canberra and Sydney since the middle of last year. She was previously said to be working as a social worker.
Ms Lees did not dwell on the identity of her birth father in her 2006 book, No Turning Back, and has never before revealed her father's nationality.
She grew up in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, with her mother, Jennifer James, her stepfather Vincent James and step-brother Sam.
'We didn't have much money but she worked hard to make sure I had a happy childhood,' she wrote.
On July 14, 2001, Ms Lees and Mr Falconio were travelling through central Australia when drug runner Bradley John Murdoch waved down their Volkswagen Kombi camper van.
Murdoch shot Mr Falconio in the head. Ms Lees was threatened with a gun, punched in the head and bound with cable-tie restraints before she managed to escape, hiding in bushes for five hours while her attacker stalked her with a dog.
Joanne Lees' partner Peter Falconio was shot and killed by Bradley John Murdoch they were flagged down (pair pictured together)
The body of Mr Falconio (left) has never been found - but Ms Lees is trying to find him
Convicted: Bradley John Murdoch was found guilty of murdering Mr Falconio and assaulting Ms Lees, then 27, near Barrow Creek in the Northern Territory
Murdoch was later convicted of murdering Mr Falconio, 28, and assaulting Ms Lees, then 27, on a remote stretch of the Stuart Highway near Barrow Creek, north of Alice Springs.
'Pete lost his life on that night but I lost mine too,' Ms Lees told 60 Minutes at the weekend.
'I'll never be fully at peace if Pete's not found, but I accept that that is a possibility.'
Murdoch is believed to have hidden Mr Falconio's body, which has never been found despite extensive searches.
In recent months, Daniel Morcombe's parents have vowed to support Ms Lees' efforts to fund a falcon-shaped memorial for Mr Falconio.
Ms Lees is hoping to erect a falcon-shaped sculpture, representing Peter's spirit, and is raising funds through the Daniel Morcombe Foundation website.