The father of Rhiana Moore spoke last night of his struggle to get back to Bermuda as he prayed the news of his daughter's murder was all a bad dream.

Rohan Moore, a former Bermuda Police officer, received a call from a friend on Saturday afternoon to tell him the devastating news that his 14-year-old daughter had been found dead in the mangroves of Blue Hole Hill park nature reserve.

The Barbados-based real estate agent immediately scrambled to return to Bermuda.

After missing a direct flight to Miami on Sunday, which would have connected with flights to Bermuda the same day, he had to stay overnight in New York and only arrived on Island on Tuesday night.

Since then he has been trying to come to terms with the news through his faith and spend time with his 10-year-old daughter, Khara.

He said: "News came to me on Saturday afternoon. I was totally devastated. It's very, very difficult. It's the last news you want to hear.

"Not knowing the circumstances made it even harder. I do have full confidence in the Bermuda Police Service that they are working feverishly to bring everything to closure.

"They have been very, very supportive; the phone has not stopped ringing.

"You hope this is a bad fairy tale that you wake up and hope it will go away and it's just trying to deal with it. As a parent you always believe your kids will outlive you."

He believed God was "looking down on us; he doesn't give us anything we can't bear."

He said: "The last time I saw her was when I was here from November 4 to December 14 2005."

Rhiana was Mr. Moore's first child with his ex-wife, Julieann and was always someone very special to him. Seeing his daughter in this paper recently brought back memories of her first minutes on the earth.

"Her name Rhiana was a part of my name. Being the first of four it's a different connection. I still remember her when she initially came in and was in your paper, being the first born on Christmas Day," he said.

"There was just something unique and special with her. She carried it through her entire life."

Since he moved back to Barbados in March 2000, Mr. Moore kept in steady contact with his daughter through decoding his teenager's text messages to phone calls.

According to Mr. Moore, every time she received an award or excelled in her modelling she would text him to let him know.

Unfortunately the former ballet student's life was cut short. Police this week appealed for information to help piece the last minutes of Rhiana's life together.

So far they have said publicly that she was at a youth group meeting at her church, the Radnor Road Christian Fellowship on Friday evening.

Yesterday, Police confirmed that a man arrested in connection with her murder on Saturday afternoon in St. David's was still in custody.

They are, however, still hoping the first man to discover her body will come forward as will the drivers or owners of three cars a champagne gold RAV 4 Toyota car, a white Renault Scenic station wagon, and a white intermediate-sized enclosed type van which all visited the Tynes Bay Incinerator last Saturday morning.

Investigators are also looking for information about a blue car in the Eastern area "that may have been in parked in a secluded spot or travelling in or towards a secluded area."

But what Mr. Moore is trying to do is re-connect with his family here in Bermuda including a nine-year-old son Tyler Dill, whose mother is a teacher at CedarBridge.

Mr. Moore, who has remarried and has a five-year-old daughter Angel in Barbados, said he and Rhiana's mother Julieann had always tried to cultivate the independent spirit that the honour student showed from a young age.

"I remember I took her to Harbour Nights when she was young, maybe five-years-old, and I was going to take her to the bathroom, but she said: 'No you wait here outside," he said.

"She always had that independent streak. We tried to instill that as much as we could. She grew-up really fast. I remember even young she had this charisma.

"Even that young she was someone who impacted others and showed the sense of a powerful leader. Her favourite subject was maths. While her sister likes English, she liked figures.

"From 1994, when she was a year old, we became members of the Radnor Road Church. She remained with the church and always had that foundation.

"Having gone back to Barbados you a feel a distance being overseas but her mom did an excellent job of raising her and nourishing her."

Returning to Bermuda has also helped Mr. Moore who spoke glowingly of the support the family has received from all areas of the community.

Three who have been particularly helpful were Rhiana's godparent's Euleen and Ralph Furbert and Wayne Gaskin.

Mr. Moore said the role their pastor Bishop Neville Smith has played spending all day with the family has also been a comfort.

He added: "I just want to spend as much time as possible with my younger daughter. Bermuda people are together people you rally around.

"It's really, really touching. I feel it's a home away from home. Even though it was my daughter, I don't feel alone in this. It's really comforting."