MURDERED Joanna Yeates sent a final text message inviting a male friend out for a drink on the night she was last seen alive, The Sun can reveal.
The pal never replied and is now racked with guilt thinking he could have saved her life.
A source said: "Jo was at a loose end as her boyfriend was away. As she walked home she passed close to the home of someone she hadn't seen for about 18 months. He's a friend of her brother, just a casual acquaintance.
On the spur of the moment she decided to try to text him and ask if he was around to meet for a friendly drink, but she never got a reply.
"She carried on home and the friend now feels horribly guilty about not getting back to her. He's told people, 'I could have saved her life'. He's beside himself."
Jo, 25, is understood to have sent the text in between leaving a pub at 8pm and buying cider at an off-licence at 8.20pm on December 17.
It is believed the friend was asleep, and by the time he saw the text he thought it was too late to reply. It is understood police interviewed him as a matter of routine because Jo's mobile showed she tried to reach him.
The text was uncovered as part of a huge sweep of mobile phone and computer records.
Police - who believe Jo was murdered after arriving back at her flat in Clifton, Bristol - declined to comment on the text.
News of the text came as The Sun's £50,000 reward to find Jo's killer was launched in Bristol.
DO you know the pal Jo tried to contact? Call 020 7782 4105.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3337416/Joanna-Yeates-pal-missed-message-sent-on-walk-home.html
