A NSW teenager who vanished more than 30 years ago was likely killed and dumped somewhere in Victoria, police say.
A $100,000 reward was announced on Monday to help solve the cold case disappearance of 17-year-old Kim Teer.
The adventure-seeking teenager had left her home near Port Macquarie, NSW, with a friend and her dog in 1978.
The teenager hitchhiked from coast to coast, finding work on a trawling ship, picking fruit in Queensland and travelling through Perth and even the Northern Territory before she finally ended up in Melbourne.
It was during her brief stay with a couple in an East Melbourne flat in September 1979 that the trail goes cold.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
But Detective Inspector John Potter says he's confident the case can be solved despite the passage of time and not having a suspect.
"At the moment our leads have dried up," he said.
"But somebody can help us. Somebody would have heard something. Somebody would have been told something."
He said anyone who comes forward can do so anonymously and can seek indemnity from incriminating themselves.
During her travels, Kim kept in regular contact with her mother Colleen Holding, but in her last letter she wrote how she was scared of hitchhiking and wanted her birth certificate mailed to her so she could get her driver's licence.
Kim's mother called police when her daughter's 18th birthday passed by without any contact from her.
Police say Kim likely died in Victoria, possibly in Melbourne.
"We think she's been killed and her body has been disposed of in some unknown way," Det Insp Potter said.
The $100,000 reward will go to anyone who comes forward with information that leads to an arrest and conviction.
