A cold case of the disappearance of a Dunedin mother is being treated as suspicious, police say.
Investigators reopened the case of Tuitania (Tui) Marama Barclay earlier this year, saying they suspected foul play in her disappearance.
Ms Barclay has not been seen since October 2002 and was reported missing by her former partner, Bill Brown, four months later.
''The circumstances as we see them are suspicious as to her disappearance,'' Detective Senior Sergeant Malcolm Inglis told the Otago Daily Times this week. However, police continued to keep an open mind, as ''we have never found her body''.
Since police had reopened the case, investigators had received ''positive feedback from the public, which we are following up on''.
''We are doing a whole lot of other background inquiries but, obviously, we can't say what all of those are.''
Det Snr Sgt Inglis confirmed police had still had no contact with Mr Brown, who lives in the United Kingdom with the couple's two children.
He would not be drawn on Mr Brown's involvement but ''we are still interviewing various people who knew them in the start of the 2000s''.
Earlier this year, police searched the Ross Creek reservoir and a Dunedin property for clues to her disappearance.
Ms Barclay was 29 when she disappeared and was described as a Caucasian of petite build.
Anyone with information was urged to contact police on 471-4800 or anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800-555-111.
