NSW property searched in hunt for teen who vanished in 2002

A property in southern New South Wales has been searched by police as investigators work to uncover the fate of a teenager who vanished nearly 20 years ago.

On Easter Saturday, 2002, Armidale woman Niamh Maye, then 18, had been fruit-picking with friends in the Snowy Mountains.

She was booked to catch a bus north from Batlow to Cootamundra and then a train to Sydney, to spend Easter with her family.

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But she never showed up.

Nobody has ever been charged over her disappearance.

A coronial inquest in 2012 found that Ms Maye had died at or near Tumut in the NSW Riverina, on or around March 30, 2002.

Police today confirmed to nine.com.au that a property near Tumut had been searched in the course of the ongoing investigation.

Last year, police and Ms Maye's family renewed their appeal for information during Missing Persons Week.

"I was only 20 at the time and I think I had some naive optimism that maybe we would still find her, but realistically we knew immediately when she didn't get on that bus that something had gone wrong," Niamh's sister, Fionnuala Hagerty, said then.

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"No matter how insignificant: something you heard, something you saw, something that's just bothered you.

"We just want to bring her home – or bring her remains home, and give her the farewell that she deserves."

Anybody with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.