Investigation into Opotiki death ongoing

The investigation into the death of 14-year-old Rangimaria White in Opotiki at the weekend is continuing.

Rangimaria died after being struck by a vehicle on Goring Street shortly before 3.45am on Sunday, 27 July.

The vehicle failed to stop and the main focus of the investigation is to identify witnesses who may have information about the vehicle and its driver.

Police are also talking to a number of people to establish the movements of Rangimaria on Saturday night and early Sunday morning and the circumstances that led to her being on Goring Street.

Enquiries indicate she had been at a family address a short time before the incident occurred.

Detective Senior Sergeant Greg Standen said: "We still have a number of enquiries to make and a number of people to speak to.

Until those enquiries are complete and we have a fuller picture we will not be making any detailed comment.

We encourage everyone's focus to remain on helping us to identify the vehicle and its driver.

Any information, no matter how small or irrelevant it may seem, may be valuable to the investigation.

If anyone suspects someone or being involved, or knows of a vehicle they believe may have been involved, we want that information so that we can include or eliminate them from our enquiries."

No debris from a vehicle was found at the scene so the vehicle involved may not necessarily have any significant or noticeable damage.

It is therefore important that anyone who has a suspicion about a vehicle, even if it has no obvious damage, reports it to police.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Whakatane Police on 07 308 5255.

Information can be provided anonymously to the organisation Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.

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