Family of woman raped and murdered on holiday in Mozambique speak for the first time.

A Melbourne family are grieving the loss of an “ambitious” young woman who died while on a diving holiday in Africa. Elly Warren was killed in Mozambique on Wednesday while making her way home from a party.

Her family have been told she was raped and murdered, according to The Age. The 20-year-old from Mordiallic was last seen dropping off her bag at a beachside hostel but never made it back.

Her body was later found in a toilet block.

Her father, Paul Warren, told 7 News she had been worried about her safety saying, “It’s dangerous Dad, I don’t know if I should be going over there.”

Paul shared the news of his daughter’s death on Facebook, along with a photo of her with her boyfriend Luke Tempany, who he described as “a great kid”.

Elly and her boyfriend Luke. Source: Facebook

"My lovely daughter Elly passed away yesterday when overseas," he wrote. "I loved her dearly and and will miss her so much."

In a second status he thanked friends and family for their support and said an investigation and autopsy were planned, but may take up to two weeks.

"[Elly] touched us all in some special way," Paul wrote. "She is at peace with Sam our dog who she grew up with and loved dearly."

"The funeral is going to take some time as Elly was in a remote fishing village called Pemba... I will be going over there in a few day to bring my baby back home."

Elly was due to return to Australia on Monday and planned to travel to New Zealand with her boyfriend on Friday.

"Elly was always ambitious and had so many goals to go travelling but maybe she had too many," her sister Kristy wrote on Facebook.

"Rest in peace Elly, you are loved dearly."