Almost three months after Breanna Muriwai was last seen, police have revealed the chances of her returning home alive are incredibly remote.
Now her mother Jasmin Gray has spoken for the first time, saying she believes something bad has happened.
She's pleading for those with information to come forward, because regardless of the circumstances all she wants is her baby home.
"Is she scared? Is she hungry? Is she warm?"
Those are just some of the questions that have been constantly swirling through Gray's mind, a heartbroken mother who for three months hasn't seen or heard from her daughter Breanna Muriwai.
"She was bright, vibrant and ya' know… she was a clever girl."
A person who cared, Muriwai was studying to be a nurse and protective of her younger siblings.
"Seeing them all together, just not having Breanna there in that pack... it's like a missing piece to a puzzle."
And police are still trying to figure out the puzzle of Breanna's disappearance. Detective Senior Sergeant Dave Thompson told Newshub many questions remain unanswered and police are "investigating all possibilities".
"Clearly one of those is that there are other people involved in her disappearance."
The last CCTV footage of Muriwai shows her at a Palmerston North liquor store on August 27 with a male associate.
Later that night she asked him to take her home to Paraparaumu. Police say the man agreed to drop her off but first picked up another man.
At 12:45am they stopped at Kimberley Reserve near Levin, before travelling to Ōtaki where one of the men withdrew $250 from Muriwai's account.
They then met a third man at Hyde Park before travelling on to Te Horo Beach, the place where Muriwai was reportedly last seen.
"That's when it starts to get a little murky as to what's happened," said Det Insp Thompson.
Police have since found her phone and handbag at Te Horo Beach, but they also want to know the whereabouts and contents of a purple suitcase.
And now Det Insp Thompson is calling on the public for help with sightings of two cars on the night she disappeared and the days following.
"And of course, there's people out there that may have been privy to conversations, we want to hear about that," he said.
"Please... don't sit back and hold this information, this girl is out there alone," said Gray.
And while police are confident they will figure out just what has happened, the possibility of her returning home alive is becoming increasingly unlikely.
"The chances of Breanna walking through the door, are now incredibly remote... the family are starting to come to terms with that. They have been thinking that, but of course us saying that is some reality to it and of course that's hard."
But it's a reality her family is all too aware of.
"We know something bad has happened. She would have been home by now, but the answers that we want is where is she. That's the only answer."
And it's an answer to the question that keeps tormenting Gray - where is her baby?
