Suspect sighted but still free

Nathan Fenton, a member of Black Power, disappeared before the body of girlfriend Mairina Dunn was discovered.

More reported sightings of Black Power gang member Nathan Fenton, sought in a murder inquiry after a teenage girl was found beaten to death last Sunday, are being followed up by Northland police.

Fenton, who is 31, is understood to have associates in Auckland and Whangarei where there have been unconfirmed sightings of him by the public since 17-year-old Mairina Dunn was found dead in a house in the Whangarei suburb of Otangarei on Sunday afternoon.

Fenton is described as being "a focal point of police interest" as a 45-strong team of police continue to investigate the violent death of Ms Dunn.

She was brutally beaten with a blunt instrument for more than an hour and a half at a level of violence that was hard to imagine, the officer in charge of the investigation, Detective Senior Sergeant Marty Ruth, has said.

He will still not say what sort of weapon was used in the attack.

Fenton and Ms Dunn were living in the rented house with several others at the time of her death.

Both Mr Ruth and Dunn family members have appealed to Fenton to give himself up. The police are following several leads.

Police warn that he should not be approached and anyone seeing him should contact their nearest police station.