Carmen web puzzle

A recent image of Carmen Thomas. Photo / Supplied

Police will speak to a man who has been sending messages on Facebook to the family of missing Auckland escort Carmen Thomas, claiming he has information about her disappearance.

Thomas, 32, has not been seen since July 1. The last known contact from the Remuera woman was a July 3 text to the owner of the Pakuranga gentlemen's club where she worked.

Members of Thomas' family have contacted the police after receiving messages on Facebook from a man claiming he "knows things" about the missing woman.

Acting Detective Inspector Mark Benefield would not be drawn on the content of the messages. "He's saying lots of things, it's not helpful," he said.

"We will assess what he's saying and we'll be speaking to him again."

Thomas' mother Teresa Scott arrived from South Africa late on Friday and spent yesterday afternoon speaking to police. Before leaving Durban she wrote on a Facebook page that has been set up to help find her daughter: "Carmen, my beautiful girl. I am coming to find you. Will be there soon. We love you, Jack misses you. See you soon Love Mom."

Yesterday police were at Thomas' Ngapuhi Rd home - a self-contained unit beneath the owner's house, where she lived with her 5-year-old son Jack.

Police removed a box from the unit and the front door and areas inside were covered in fingerprinting powder.

Thomas shared custody of Jack with his father. Her former partner would not comment yesterday, nor would the owner of the unit.

Benefield said results of forensic examinations at the house, and on Thomas' car, which was found in Hamilton on July 5, were not yet available.

Officers were also working through her cellphone records to establish where Thomas was when the phone, which has been switched off for several weeks, was last used.

Benefield said an investigation into threatening texts to Thomas from a female manager at an escort agency she used to work for showed they were not sinister. Police were comfortable with the manager's explanation.

This week police used cadaver dogs to search the Orakei Basin, near Thomas' home. Officers were also reviewing security footage from Auckland and Hamilton businesses.

Benefield said it was unclear where the search for Thomas would go next. "It depends on what information we get."

He said information was still coming in from members of the public and being assessed. However, the many different images posted on Facebook of Thomas could be confusing and Benefield wanted people to focus on the most recent shot, taken about a month before she disappeared.

The photo was clearer than images of Thomas caught on security cameras in early July.

anna.leask@hos.co.nz