Police hopes of locking up a dark-skinned man believed to be the brutal killer of an Auckland street vagrant last year are fading.
The man was last seen walking with Sheryl Brown, 45, in a street near Auckland's red light district of Karangahape Road and a short distance from where her
battered body was found in a carpark nearly 17 hours later.
She is thought to have died after 12.30am on December 11 but her body lay in the rain in a carpark for more than 17 hours before it was found.
In spite of a huge police investigation and an untouched reward, police are no closer to finding the dark-skinned man they believe bashed her on the head and killed her.
He may still be in Auckland but he may also have left, Detective Senior Sergeant Greg Turner said today.
He said there was little else police could do and after a final review of the inquiry in the next few weeks, it would probably be put on the backburner, although it would never be closed.
"We remain ever hopeful," Mr Turner said.
He said without a strong suspect, police could not formulate a theory on why Ms Brown was killed.
Ms Brown, a vagrant with a drinking problem, had little money on her, which ruled out robbery, and there was no evidence she had been raped.
Although the $20,000 reward lapsed more than a month ago, police could still pay for information if it led to the conviction of the killer, Mr Turner said.
He said the dark-skinned man was a complete mystery, although he doubted he was a tourist or traveller.
He said police were still obviously keen to hear from anyone who knows the killer or what happened on December 11 last year.
- NZPA
