It may be small and remote, but Cooktown has become the focus of the entire Queensland law enforcement community after the suspicious death of Donna Steele.

And while detectives from Brisbane, Cairns and Townsville have converged on the town and followed up more than 300 lines of enquiry, police are no closer to tracking down Ms Steele's killer.

"There's still much more work to be done," Detective Inspector Geoff Marsh told reporters on Friday.

"For the people of Cooktown - it's a quiet, seaside hamlet that normally does not get this sort of attention ... and I'm sure they would like to return to that peaceful existence they've enjoyed up until this stage."

Ms Steele, 42, disappeared on August 2 and her body was found in Isabella Creek, 20 kilometres outside the town, four days later.

She had been well-known in the community, working occasionally at a local caravan park while her two sons, aged eight and 10, attended the local school.

Earlier, Inspector Marsh had described Ms Steele as an "exceptional mother" who was "well known" in the community, and police were certain her killer knew her personally.

"There is no reason to believe that they (the killer) are anything else but a Cooktown person, a resident of Cooktown," he said.

"There's nothing to suggest in our investigation thus far that the perpetrator of this horrfiic crime was not known to Donna."

So far though, despite dozens of police interviews and ruling out 305 lines of inquiry, Inspector Marsh said police had no persons of interest or significant witnesses to the alleged crime.

"At this stage no person is ruled in or out of the investigation," he said.

And the autopsy results do not seem to have provided police with much help either.

With her cause of death ruled indeterminate, due to the length of time her body was in the water. Ms Steele had a number of injuries, but Inspector Marsh said none of them could be confirmed as the cause of her death.

Without the cause, police are combing through CCTV footage, dashcam videos sent it by locals, dozens of statements, and all the evidence collected from the now-closed crime scenes as police hunt for the one piece of evidence that could help solve the case.

"Someone in Cooktown knows what happened to Donna on the day of this tragic incident which has caused her death," Inspector Marsh said.

"We need that person that has that piece of information to come forward, now's the time."

Inspector Marsh said the heightened police presence, which includes a police command centre being run out of the PCYC, would remain in Cooktown until the job was done.

"There's 20 detectives up there at the moment, they'll be making enquiries upon enquiries, and they'll be knocking on doors, the same doors over and over again if need be to get that key piece of information that we require to bring this investigation to a resolution," he said.

"As it progresses we may well speak to everyone in Cooktown."

Ms Steele's family and friends farewelled her in a private funeral on Thursday, and her partner and two sons remain in the tablelands, away from the commotion of the police investigation.

Despite the lack of leads, suspects and even witnesses, Inspector Marsh said he was confident the case would be solved.

"We firmly believe that this matter will be solved, it's a matter of time," he said.

"A lot of pressure will obviously be on the person or persons who committed this crime (in) such a tight, small community."

While most of the community had been helpful, Inspector Marsh said some may have been less than truthful and that would all be revealed in the end.

"It will soon become apparent who has done it and they will be reported to the police, because I'd say the people of Cooktown would like to go back to their idyllic quiet lifestyle," he said.

"It's hard to enjoy the serenity of it all when you don't know when someone's going to come knock on your front door."