An e-mail sent by Indira Swann, one of the Ecuadorian bus crash victims, expressing her love for her family and describing the fun she was having, was discovered by her parents just hours after they learnt of her death.

The final message sent to Greg and Louise Swann also thanked them for giving her the chance to go on a gap-year adventure.

Part of the e-mail, discovered the day after she died, has been released by her family as a tribute to their “caring daughter”. The message, written within the past week, told how much she loved her parents and elder sister.

“Thanks to you and Dad for being so great and for both giving me the opportunity and confidence to do this, but also for giving me such a lovely home that nothing could stop me wanting to come back after,” she wrote.

Her parents discovered the e-mail when they checked their computer at 4am yesterday. They had rushed home from a holiday in Italy after being told of the crash.

Mr Swann, a sales and marketing manager, said that his daughter had left the family home in Maidenhead, Berkshire, on March 27.

“She had spent a lot of time researching the trip and the company she chose in the end ticked all the boxes,” he said. “She had heard about companies that just go into these countries and do more harm than good. Indira wanted to do something useful.

“Her motivation was to help people and support people and enjoy life. She was a very conscientious and giving person.”

Mr Swann, 54, added: “Indira had so many friends. She was so full of happiness and always had a smile for everybody. She would light up a room.”

Their daughter loved animals and had surrounded herself with cats, rabbits, and stick insects. She attended Newlands Girls School in Maidenhead, where she completed A levels in English, classics, philosophy and ancient history. She was to start an English and classics course at King’s College London in September.

Her sister, Elizabeth, 21, spoke to Ms Swann the day before she died. Ms Swannhad told her she was worried about telling her mother that she had had her nose pierced.

“She was so excited telling me what she had been doing, I could not get a word in edgeways,” Elizabeth said. “When I came back from uni she would always give me the biggest hug and tell me how much she missed me. She was the best little sister in the world.”

Harry Felton, 19, Ms Swann’s boyfriend, was travelling in Laos when he was told of her death. Mr Felton, from Didcot, Oxfordshire, boarded a plane yesterday to return to Britain.

Mr and Mrs Swann were informed of their daughter’s death by the Foreign Office. A post-mortem examination has been carried out and Ms Swann’s body is likely to be released within 48 hours.

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