Nearly 100 people have called police with information on the 40-year-old unsolved murder of West Auckland teenager Tracey Ann Patient.
Waitemata police say they are extremely pleased with the public response after announcing they were following fresh leads in the cold case.
Today marks 40 years since the 13-year-old's body was found in the Waitakere Ranges after she disappeared the previous night walking home from a friend's house in Henderson.
Police said almost 100 people had called the dedicated hotline with information since yesterday.
"We have quite a number of suspect nominations and pieces of information from people about suspicious behaviour they witnessed at the time," said Detective Inspector John Sutton.
"We've heard from people who have never called police before and have told us that they've thought about the case for the past 40 years."
Nearly a third of the callers had provided theories around what a mysterious "126040" code meant, an anonymous tip from a mystery caller given to police two years after Tracey's death.
Det Insp Sutton said the murdered girl's family was comforted that, 40 years on, the public had not forgotten her.
"Today our thoughts are with Tracey's family, this is a very difficult time for them and we extend our sympathies to them."
