To be attributed to Detective Inspector John Sutton, Waitemata Police
Operation Tracey, the investigation that was resumed late last year into the unsolved murder of Tracey Patient, has been wound down.
Tracey Patient disappeared on the night of January 29, 1976. Her body was found in a bush area on Scenic Drive the following morning.
In November 2015, a team of Detectives resumed work on the case full time and pursued new lines of enquiry.
In January, on the eve of the 40th anniversary of Tracey’s disappearance, Police announced that the case had been resumed fulltime and appealed to anyone with information to call a dedicated 0800 number.
Hundreds of calls were received and Detectives worked their way through assessing all of the information provided, and making further enquiries where possible.
There have been hundreds of people who have contacted us to provide information from forty years ago, people who had never been in touch before but had thought about the case since that time.
It has also been quite astounding the number of people who have provided us with the names of people close to them who they suspected might have been involved.
Hundreds of theories and a number of leads have been explored across many thousands of hours.
The team spoke to more than 200 people, and on several occasions, Detectives have travelled to Australia to carry out further investigative work.
The investigation has been progressed, but unfortunately it has not resulted in anyone being arrested and charged with Tracey’s murder.
It is disappointing that we have not been able to provide Tracey’s family with the news we wanted to give them. We have however spoken with Tracey’s family and have advised them of our outcome and whilst they share our disappointment, they are appreciative of our efforts.
They have also been comforted at the ongoing public assistance with Tracey’s case, and the fact that she has not been forgotten by hundreds of people in the West Auckland community.
I am proud of the efforts of the enquiry team, particularly Detective Sergeant Murray Free, who has worked tirelessly on this case for many years.
The case will remain open and will no longer be actively investigated, unless new information comes to Police.
ENDS
NZ Police