THE body of the 11-year-old daughter of a man serving life for the killing of a teenage Bolton prostitute was reburied after being exhumed on Tuesday.

Phyllis Porter's remains were excavated from the churchyard at St Luke's Church, Orrell, as part of a police investigation to reveal the cause of her death six years ago.

Detectives hope to obtain DNA to give them vital clues as to how she died.

At lunchtime the body was reburied in the family grave.

Her mother, Ann Porter with brother Patrick Wrigley and an uncle, arrived at the sandstone church ahead of the hearse carrying her daughter's body.

The trio were taken to the churchyard burial ground in an unmarked black police car.

Greater Manchester Police instigated the exhumation of Phyllis's body earlier on Tuesday morning for forensic tests -- undertaken at Wigan Infirmary -- to try to determine what caused her death in November 1996.

Her father is murderer Geoffrey Porter who was jailed in December last year for killing 17-year-old prostitute Carly Bateman in November, 2001.

Porter was informed of the exhumation by his solicitor in Wakefield Prison, where he is serving his sentence.

Detectives now intend to interview Porter.

It is hoped advanced DNA techniques will provide answers to his daughter's unexplained death on November 20, 1996.

Phyllis, who was described by police as a "very lively, perfectly healthy and well-liked girl who was really bubbly and friendly", was found face down on her bed by her mother as she got up for work. A Home Office pathologist failed to find a cause of death and a coroner recorded an open verdict at an inquest.

The decision to exhume Phyllis's body came after questions were raised about her death during the investigation into Carly's murder.

Porter, aged 40, of Columbia Road, Bolton, was found guilty of strangling Carly and dumping her partially clothed body in an alleyway off Crawford Avenue, The Haulgh.

At his trial Porter was described as an "oddball" with an obsession for vice.

A police spokesman said: "In light of Porter's conviction for murder it is prudent we re-examine the circumstances of his daughter's death.

"At this stage there is no evidence to link him to his daughter's death."