Her son Yazan said the discovery had “come as a surreal surprise to me and my family”.

“Being able to provide a final resting place is all we have wanted,” he said.

“To have the ability to lay down a few flowers for my mother is more than I can ask for from this world.”

Ms Alayed, formerly of Norton on Teesside before moving to Greater Manchester, had suffered years of abuse at the hands of Al-Khatib, his trial heard.

Jurors were told that he murdered his wife in a “pre-planned honour killing” because he believed she had become too westernised and was “establishing an independent life”.

The trial heard Al-Khatib then began an elaborate deception, with CCTV showing him wearing a headscarf in an attempt to pass himself off as Ms Alayed.

He messaged and texted her friends and family trying to convince them she was still alive.

Sentencing judge, Mr Justice Leggatt, told him: “The contempt you showed for Rania in death matched the contempt of how you treated her in life.”

Det Ch Insp Neil Higginson said the murder was “utterly horrific” and not knowing where her body was had “inflicted further pain to all those who knew her”.

He said: “More than a decade after her murder, we now strongly believe we have located Rania’s body and are finally able to provide closure to her family, who we know have endured so much pain and grief over the years.”