Police have raided a Kaikohe home in the hunt for the alleged killer of an elderly woman during a burglary.

Detectives have been hunting a man as part of a homicide investigation relating to the death of 71-year-old pensioner Linda Woods​ in the small Far North District settlement. Police believe the burglary was sexually motivated.

Stuff understands detectives working on the investigation have had a major breakthrough which has pointed them in the direction of a suspect.

On Tuesday, they searched a property on Taraire Street – the same street where the victim lived.

READ MORE:
* Breakthrough as police retrieve DNA from Kaikohe homicide investigation scene
* Police believe Kaikohe homicide was a ‘sexually motivated burglary’
* Police ‘aware’ of video footage taken during attack in Kaikohe homicide victim Linda Woods’ home

A neighbour told Stuff there was “something going on around the corner, you should ask police about it”.

In a statement issued soon after Stuff published on the raid, Northland detective inspector Rhys Johnston said the police were speaking with a person of interest.

“The homicide investigation in Kaikohe is continuing to progress,” Johnston said.

”Police are this morning executing a search warrant at an address in Taraire Street, Kaikohe in relation to the ongoing investigation.

”Police are currently speaking with a person of interest.We recognise the public’s interest in this case and we will continue to provide updates on any developments.”

Speaking to RNZ on Tuesday morning, 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.

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.