The mother of three missing Marokopa children has shared a letter she claims was written to her by fugitive father Tom Phillips, in which he says “I have a good heart and I mean well”.

Mother Cat took to social media on Wednesday night in a fresh plea for the return of her three children and released a letter, which she says Phillips wrote to her.

“I have decided to share a letter written by Thomas to show that all is not as it seems,” she posted tonight.

The letter reads:

“I don’t know what to say or do to help you forgive me.

“I am not desperate to be with someone or I would have already done it. I don’t want to be with someone I want to be with you Catherine, the woman I have been in love with for over seven years.

“I can’t make you forgive me. Only you can make that choice and I know you don’t have to.

“I know if I ever give up trying to make things right I will regret it forever. I’m sorry for everything I have ever said or done to hurt you. These past nine months I have suffered everyday knowing I should have dealt with things better and knowing that I f***ed up.

A letter from Tom Phillips to Cat the mother of Jayda, Ember and Maverick Phillips.

“Hindsight is great right, or not because now I know there was a better way and I have to live with that for the rest of my life.

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“You have a a beautiful personality and the happiest years of my life are because of you. You have brought me so much joy and I don’t feel complete without you.

“I hope you can remember the man you fell in love with and know that although I make multiple f***ups I have a good heart and I mean well.

“I know I used to make you happy, I know I can make you happy again if you let me. We get on so well most of the time and we are an awesome couple. We have an awesome family and that’s worth fighting for.”

In her post tonight, Cat also shared an image of the family’s last birthday celebration together for their eldest daughter Jayda, who turned 11th on Tuesday.

Cat also shared an image of the family’s last birthday celebration together for their eldest daughter Jayda, who turned 11th on Tuesday.

‘Bring my babies home’: Mother speaks out for first time

The letter comes a day after the mother spoke publicly for the first time.

In a video message to Phillips, mother Cat said: “I am standing here before you today begging you for your help to bring my babies home.

“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 continued: “What Thomas is doing is not okay. It is not okay to divide and conquer, it is not okay to isolate and control. It is child neglect, it is child endangerment, it is child abandonment, it is child abuse.

“None of this is okay. My babies deserve better. I am just a mother standing here in front of the world begging you here to help me bring my babies home.

“Please, if anybody has any information at all, call the police.”

Cat posted this image to Facebook tonight, saying it was taken in 2021, before disappearance of children Maverick, Jayda and Ember Phillips.

She said yesterday was her daughter Jayda’s 11th birthday.

“She will be a young woman now and will need her mother.

“Ember is asthmatic, as am I. She needs medical care that cannot be provided from the land and I can only imagine how Maverick is coping with the hand that life has dealt him.

“Many of you say the children are fine, that they’re being well looked after. How do you know? Have you seen them or is it just bush talk?”

In a statement, police said they had received more than 100 new tipoffs since making a renewed effort last week to find the family.

Forty of these tipoffs were considered “worthy” and were being investigated further, acting Detective Inspector Andrew Saunders said.

“We cannot provide details while the investigation is ongoing but we are committed to getting a result as soon as possible.

Police offer $80,000 reward for information leading to children’s safe return

Attention on Phillips and his children has ramped up in the past week, with police issuing an $80,000 reward for information on their whereabouts, deploying officers to Marokopa and then Ōtoroganga, and setting up checkpoints in the hope of finding them.

The reward is active until next Tuesday.

Two weeks ago, an anonymous woman claimed to have spotted Phillips and his three children at the Okoroire Hot Springs Hotel, a two-hour drive from Marokopa.

Phillips first disappeared with the children on September 11, 2021. Emergency services began searching for them after his car was found abandoned on a beach. Phillips turned up almost three weeks later, on September 30.

Police charged him with wasteful deployment of police resources but he did not show up at his first court appearance on January 12, 2022. Police then issued a warrant for his arrest. He and his children officially went missing again on December 2, 2021.

Phillips evaded the attention of police for 19 months before he was seen shopping while wearing a disguise, allegedly stole a car and then got into a fight with a member of the public last August.

Police then accused him of robbing a bank last May.

The latest incident saw him allegedly steal a bike with one of his children and smash a storefront on November 2.

Phillips’ eldest daughter had her 11th birthday yesterday. Jayda was 8 when the family went missing, her brother Maverick was 7 and her younger sister Ember was 5.

Benjamin Plummer is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He has worked for the Herald since 2022.