Police are asking for information on any vehicles recently owned by missing man Thomas Philips.
It's nearly been a week since 34-year-old Phillips and his three young children, Jayda, Maverick, and Ember, were last seen on Saturday in the rural Waikato settlement. A missing persons operation was launched on Monday after police were notified of the group's disappearance. On Sunday, Phillip's ute was found abandoned on Kiritehere Beach.
On Friday police said they are asking for information about any vehicle Phillips has owned recently including two motorcycles.
"We have information to suggest he has owned two motorcycles, a 2004 Honda XR400 and a 2019 Honda CRF50," Waikato West Area Commander Will Loughrin said.
"Police would now like to account for their whereabouts. We appreciate this specific appeal for information may lead to speculation the motorcycles could be involved in some way.
"This is not the case, however police need to ensure we explore this line of enquiry and want to hear from anyone who might have seen them or know where they are."
Earlier on Friday it emerged that surf lifesavers had found some items during their search, but police have since confirmed these have not been deemed relevant and nothing of interest to the investigation has been discovered in the water.
On Thursday police appealed for anyone who had been either at Marokopa or Kiritehere Beaches over the weekend to contact them.
"We have had a positive response and investigators are now speaking with these people to see if they can provide any relevant information," Loughrin said.
Family members asked for privacy after the police's new appeal for information.
"While they appreciate the public interest and concern, they respectfully ask media to allow them this time to concentrate on the search efforts for Tom and the children," police said.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the investigation team via 105 and quote the file number 210913/1952.
