Police plan to excavate a site northwest of Hobart as they investigate the 1969 disappearance of Lucille Butterworth.
Ms Butterworth, 20, was last seen at a Claremont bus stop at 5.45pm on August 25, 1969, and had intended to travel to New Norfolk.
Detective Inspector David Plumpton says new information led Tasmania Police to dig for Ms Butterworth's remains beside the Lyell Highway near Granton, a few kilometres north of Claremont.
Det Insp Plumpton said the information relates to a man who is a person of interest in the case, and the coroner has been advised.
"The family of Lucille Butterworth deserves to know what happened," he said.
"Her brothers have lived for 46 years not knowing where she is or how she died.
"We're determined to do all we can to bring them some understanding of what happened.
"We also hope that this operation, together with the forthcoming coronial inquest, will prompt someone else with knowledge or memories of the events that night to come forward and talk to us. It's never too late."
The excavation will begin early next week and is expected to take several weeks to complete.
Lucille Butterworth's disappearance is one of the most enduring mysteries in Tasmania's criminal history.
The 20-year-old typist was on her way to a Miss Tasmania Quest fundraising meeting in New Norfolk when she was last seen at the bus stop in Claremont.
Her boyfriend, John Fitzgerald,came from New Norfolk and was waiting at the other end.
The couple had planned to marry but had not yet announced their engagement.
Coroner Simon Cooper told the formal start of the inquest in May that there were four persons of interest in the Butterworth case, with three still alive almost 46 years on.
In 2014, police arrested a man and questioned him for four hours about the disappearance but released him without charge.
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