Police say the teenager at the centre of a homicide investigation in the South Auckland suburb of Manurewa was 16 years old.
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The teenager's body was found just off McVilly Road around 4.30pm on Saturday.
In a statement police said the teenager's family had been notified of her death and were understandably devastated and struggling to come to terms with what had occurred.
The family have requested that police do not release her name at this stage and are seeking an interim suppression from the coroner's office, the statement said.
Police said they were not in a position to comment on specific aspects of the inquiry as their priority is its integrity and releasing too much information at this stage may jeopardise that.
But they said they wanted "to reassure our community that our detectives are working hard and are piecing together what has led to this girl's death".
Detectives are continuing to look at CCTV footage and make enquiries as they try to work out what happened.
Anyone with information is asked to contact police via their 105 number and quote the file number 210911/6094 or they can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.