Jane Furlong would have turned 37 this week. But instead of celebrating, her family were still waiting for updates from the police investigating her murder 19 years ago.
Yesterday police executed a search warrant in Helensville, north of Auckland, in their bid to find her killer.
They would not be drawn on the specifics of the search warrant or what was found.
But they said they were working hard to follow up any information given to them about Miss Furlong's death and the search was part of their investigation.
Miss Furlong was 17 when she disappeared from Auckland's Karangahape Rd while working as a prostitute in May 1993.
She was reported missing two days later. A police inquiry found no trace of Miss Furlong, who left behind a 5-month-old son.
Then in May this year a woman walking her dog came across Miss Furlong's skeleton, buried in the sand dunes at Port Waikato's Sunset Beach.
Police said she was found in clothes different from the ones she was wearing when last seen in K Rd. They said she died on May 26, 1993, but have yet to say how she was killed.
In June, just after Miss Furlong's funeral, police began excavating the ground next to the block of Onehunga flats where she had lived with boyfriend Danny Norsworthy.
Police have continued to ask for help from anyone with information.
Can you help?
* Contact police at 0800 675 263
* Email furlong@police.govt.nz
* Visit the "What happened to Jane" Facebook page.
* Crimestoppers 0800 555