Police are following a new lead which they hope will solve a 26-year-old cold case on the South Island's West Coast.
A homicide investigation was launched in the final days of 1998, when David Robinson's body was found on a remote beach near the town of Ross.
Police reopened the case last month.
The say a witness has now reported seeing Robinson on a street corner at the northern end of Bold Head Rd near Kakapotahi a day before he died.
They also reported seeing him in the passenger seat of a green four wheel drive around the same time.
The police say the information is new, and is crucial to understanding his last movements.
Before this new information, the last confirmed sighting of Robinson was in the beginning of November 1998 when he was arrested in Haast for theft, Detective Inspector Geoff Baber said.
“We have a responsibility in helping David’s family find the truth behind his death, and this information brings us closer to doing so."
When the investigation was reopened, Det Insp Baber said police had been canvassing the Kakapotahi area as part of their efforts to solve the case.
"No case that's unresolved is ever closed and from time-to-time we do check and review homicides that have not been solved, with the aim of seeing whether there's capacity for us to move it, progress it forward and get some answers.
"You just never know what may turn up when you start talking to people again, even after 26 years."
