Police say a letter shared by the mum of the three missing children in Marokopa is "not recent" and therefore doesn't provide any new information that will help bring the children home.
Catherine - the mother of Jayda, Maverick and Ember Phillips - on Wednesday night shared a letter claiming to be from the children's father Tom, which she says shows "all is not what it seems".
Catherine, who goes by Cat, posted the historic letter to Facebook a day after she fronted for a police-issued video urging the public of New Zealand to "help bring my babies home".
Jayda 11, Maverick 9, and Ember 8 have been missing with their father Tom Phillips for two and a half years and last week police posted an $80,000 reward for information leading to the safe return of the children.
However, police on Thursday told Newshub the letter offers no help at bringing them home.
"Investigators working to locate the missing children Ember, Maverick and Jayda Phillips are aware of the recent Facebook post by Cat, the mother of the children. The letter does not appear to present new information that will assist in the location and safe return of the children, enquiries are ongoing," a statement said.
"We're not able to offer any further comment on the Facebook post. As noted, it does not appear to present new information that will assist in the location and safe return of the children, which is the focus of the investigation."
The King Country-based mother had been apart from Phillips for almost four years when he initially disappeared with Jayda, Maverick and Ember in September 2021. He had legal custody at the time.
Phillips sparked a major search and rescue operation lasting 17 days, before he returned home from the bush with the children aged 8, 6 and 5 years old.
He walked into his parents' farmhouse with the children on September 30, 2021, before disappearing again with them in December 2021.
Police said Phillips no longer has legal custody and a warrant is out for his arrest on several charges including aggravated robbery following an armed holdup at the ANZ bank in Te Kuiti in 2023.
