By SCOTT INGLIS
Detectives hunting Marie Jamieson's murderer have compiled a list of dozens of nominated suspects, but none has emerged as the possible culprit.
Names of potential suspects have been given to the Auckland murder squad by other police officers and by people phoning the inquiry's 0800 hotline.
But as the inquiry entered its third week, the officer running the investigation, Detective Senior Sergeant Mark Franklin, said there were no prime suspects.
Ms Jamieson, a 23-year-old former hairdresser, vanished on the night of Saturday, February 10, after drinks out with friends in Newton.
The last positive sighting of her was at Henty's Wines and Spirits in New North Rd, where she bought a bottle of KGB vodka mix at 8.52 pm.
She was supposed to have caught a bus back to the Avondale alcohol and drug rehabilitation halfway house where she was living.
Instead, her naked body was found behind a Ranui, West Auckland, engineering factory nine days later.
A weapon had been used, but has not been found. Police believe the killing could have been sexually motivated.
It is possible she was abducted, or got into a vehicle with strangers or someone she knew.
Detective Senior Sergeant Franklin said the murder squad had essentially split into two - one focusing on Ms Jamieson's friends and associates, the other on the theory that a stranger nabbed her.
He confirmed that she had a boyfriend. "Anyone who was with her on the ... Friday and Saturday - we've had to put them under the microscope a bit."
Detectives have established that Ms Jamieson had used the drug methamphetamine, prompting them to turn their attention to the drug world.
"I'm not saying this is a drug death. I'm just considering the possibility ... Someone in that previous drug life may have appeared back on the scene, and perhaps temptation could have been there," the inquiry head said.
At this stage, police did not think Ms Jamieson caught her bus that night. There have been possible sightings of her walking along New North Rd towards Avondale.
Police want anyone who was at Henty's on February 10 between 8.50 pm and 9.20 pm to call 0800-672-667 (0800 OPCOOP).
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