KEY POINTS:
Police say they are still hopeful of identifying a woman whose weighted down body was found floating in a river southeast of Auckland but admit they were nowhere near cracking the case.
The woman's body was found in the Wairoa River, near the township of Clevedon on January 20.
She was wrapped in bedding weighted down by a rock and wore only a t-shirt and a pair of incontinence pants.
Detective Senior Sergeant Mark Gutry told NZPA today police were continuing to canvass residents in the area and review missing persons files but were no closer to identifying her.
They were hoping that people returning home from holiday might hold the key to solving the mystery.
The public had been co-operative but there had been no breakthroughs leading to a possible arrest.
A post-mortem examination revealed the woman was dead when she was placed in the river and her body had been there for about a week before it was found by a kayaker.
She was described as between 30 and 50, 1.55m tall, about 45 to 50kg in weight and having black hair below her shoulders.
She was missing two front teeth, which she was believed to have lost well before her death, was a heavy smoker and had borne children.
Police have set up a phone line for people with information to call - 0800 RIVER1, or 0800 748371 - and Mr Gutry said the public response had been pleasing.
- NZPA
