Francis Wark, the man convicted of murdering Perth teenager Hayley Dodd as she hitchhiked in the state's Wheatbelt region in 1999 has received a life sentence.
Supreme Court Judge Lindy Jenkins on Tuesday sentenced the 61-year-old to a minimum 21 years jail before he can be eligible for parole.
During her remarks, she described Hayley, who was 17-years-old and just 5"1 at the time of her murder as a vulnerable teenager who put her trust in Wark, perhaps because he knew the family she was hitchhiking to visit.
Victim impact statements provided by Hayley's parents and sister detailed their "living hell" since Hayley's death and their continued torment of not knowing where her body is.
"I thank Ms Dodd's family members for being so honest, I could feel the pain and dispair they have suffered," Judge Jenkins said.
"Ms Dodd's family have been denied the opportunity to give her a decent burial."
Hayley disappeared in July 1999 as she walked along North West Road in Badgingarra around midday.
She had been hitchhiking from Dongara to her friend's farm when Wark spotted her on his drive home from the shops, sealing her fate.
Wark, who was 43 years old at the time, abducted, assaulted and murdered Hayley and disposed of her body within a two hour window.
Her body and belongings, aside from an earring discovered in the seat cover of the car Wark drove that day, have never been found.
During sentencing, Wark sat in the dock, slouched with his eyes often fixed at nothing in particular in the court room.
His lawyer Darryl Ryan conceded there were few mitigating circumstances in his client's favour during sentencing.
"It is reasonable to submit the likelihood Wark will spend the rest of his life in prison," he said.
Wark has been in custody since 2007 after he raped a Queensland woman.
The 61-year-old was married once in the 1990s to a Filipino woman who he had a long distance relationship with but has no children.
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He went to Balcatta High School until Year 10 and worked as a labourer most of his working life.
He was a gardener at Badgingarra Primary School when Hayley disappeared.
Prosecuting lawyer Amanda Burrows said Hayley was 'petite and vulnerable' as she hitchhiked that day and described her murder as "heinous".
"He abducted, assaulted and disposed of her and she has never been found to this day," she said.
"It is in effect every parent's worst nightmare, it is a nightmare (the Dodd family) continue to live.
"Their victim impact statements are an eloquent expression of the trauma this family has suffered throughout the years."
Ms Burrows said members of the tight-knit Badgingarra community who saw Hayley hitchhiking that day had also been tortmented by the 'what ifs'.
"What if I'd have given her a ride... what if I'd picked her up?," she said.
"(Hayley) was a 17-year-old who had her whole life ahead of her, she was on an adventure."
