Police are going door to door in Kaikohe as they hunt for an alleged killer after a woman died during a home invasion, said the detective in charge of the investigation.

Early on Friday a homicide investigation was launched after the death of 71-year-old pensioner Linda Woods​ in the small Far North District settlement, after she confronted an intruder hiding in a bedroom.

Speaking to RNZ on Tuesday morning, Northland CIB detective inspector Rhys Johnston said the offender was “most likely” a local because of the circumstances of the offence.

Johnston said because the offender arrived and left on foot, it was likely he was local to the area, but police weren’t ruling anything out.

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On Monday, police said they had successfully retrieved the DNA from items of clothing left behind by the offender at the scene.

He said there was “a large number of people who are potentially suspects” because of the DNA profile that police had collected, but that they would be able to narrow the net as more people offered samples.

“The DNA is the most significant piece, that’s a very good piece of forensic evidence,” he said.

“But then we’ve got all these other items that were left behind by the offender, a great description – and then we’re just going door to door to generate as much information as we can.”

On Monday, Johnston said police were making plans to request DNA samples from men who fit the age range and description of the offender.

When Stuff asked police how they would go about obtaining DNA from the community, a spokesperson said they were asking for “voluntary samples at this stage”.

Police were called to a home in Taraire St at 11.41pm on Thursday after reports an intruder was found inside the property.

Earlier, police said Woods, a dialysis patient, was attempting to intervene to help family members when she was killed.

She​ shared the home with four generations of her whānau, all of whom are female, including, it’s understood, her grandchildren.

Johnston encouraged the offender to come forward voluntarily to “bring some peace back to the community of Kaikohe”.

Police have also released a still frame from a video that captured the back of the alleged offender.

Police said the video was very short and only captured the person from behind, however from the still image people could still get a good impression of the person’s age, build and the style of his upper clothing.

The person is described as an older man, aged 40-60, with short, grey-speckled, possibly curly hair, Māori or Polynesian and with a solid build.