The mother of three missing Marokopa children has posted a handwritten letter on an open Facebook page which she claims is written by the children's father.
Ember, 8, Maverick, 9, and Jayda, 11, have been missing since December 2021 after they were taken by their father Tom Phillips, who does not have legal custody of the children.
Police ramped up search efforts in Western Waikato within Marokopa and the surrounding areas and said Phillips is "likely" being helped by others to remain hidden.
In a post to an open social media page on Wednesday night, the mother of Jayda, Maverick and Ember issued a fresh plea for the return of her children and released a letter, which was said to be from Tom Phillips to her.
"I am the mother of Ember, Maverick & Jayda, and I want to share a couple of photos with you," the post said.
"I am well aware of the hateful rumours being spread around, I only ask that you know me before you judge me."
The post said the decision was made to share the letter from Tom "to show that all is not as it seems".
The handwritten letter, which was not dated nor signed, described the writer's love for Cat, apologised to her and said he has "a good heart and means well".
"I know if I ever give up trying to make things right I will regret it forever," the letter said.
"I'm sorry for everything I have ever said or done to hurt you," it said.
In a statement to 1News, a police spokesperson confirmed investigators were "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, inquiries are ongoing."
Alongside the letter, Cat included two images of her children.
Earlier this week, the missing children's mother appeared in an emotional video released by police, pleading for information which would lead to the safe return of her "innocent children", as daughter Jayda Phillips marked her 11th birthday.
"I'm standing here before you today, begging you for your help to bring my babies home," she said.
"They are just innocent children. They do not deserve to be treated this way. They do not deserve the life that is being provided to them right now," she said in the video.
She blasted their father's actions, calling them "not OK".
"It is not OK to divide and conquer. It is not OK to isolate and control.
"It is child neglect. It is child endangerment. It is child abandonment. It is child abuse. None of this is OK.
"My babies deserve better."
Acting Detective Inspector Andrew Saunders earlier said officers have received over 100 new reports of information on the subject of the missing people since an $80,000 reward was offered for information on June 11.
"We're continuing to assess the information and conduct follow-up enquiries," he said.
"As a result of our inquiries we have identified 40 reports that we think are worthy of consideration and which are now being investigated further."
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