{"id":52441,"date":"2025-09-30T17:17:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-30T17:17:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/52441\/"},"modified":"2025-09-30T17:17:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T17:17:07","slug":"mother-of-missing-auckland-woman-says-daughter-had-cash-when-she-left-skycity-spent-two-hours-in-hotels-basement-carpark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/52441\/","title":{"rendered":"Mother of missing Auckland woman says daughter had cash when she left SkyCity, spent two hours in hotel\u2019s basement carpark"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anderson said her daughter was suffering mental health issues and the possibility that she had cash with her that morning made her even more vulnerable.<\/p>\n

\"TeTe Anihana Beau Pomana previously worked at the Justice Ministry’s Office of Treaty Settlements in Wellington and hasn’t been seen since August 21. Photo \/ Suppiled<\/p>\n

Police have previously said there\u2019s nothing to suggest Te Anihana\u2019s been the victim of foul play.<\/p>\n

However, Detective Senior Sergeant Martin Friend confirmed to the Herald she did make cash withdrawals prior to her disappearance.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe amount has not been disclosed due to concern it could put her at risk. No cash was located in Te Anihana\u2019s room at SkyCity Hotel and her bank cards were among a range of items she left behind,\u201d Friend said.<\/p>\n

There have been only two sightings of Te Anihana on CCTV cameras since she left SkyCity on August 21 \u2013 the first from the hotel\u2019s own cameras outside the main entrance at 5.06am.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"TeTe Anihana was seen in distinctive white clothing when she left SkyCity at 5.06am on August 21. Photo \/ NZ Police<\/p>\n

It\u2019s understood there was also a glimpse of her on CCTV as she walked past Asian eatery Seven Poke on the corner of Graham St and Victoria St West at 5.16am.<\/p>\n

A worker at the store confirmed to the Herald police had viewed their CCTV of the morning and a partial shot of a woman in white was visible in the footage.<\/p>\n

The footage suggests Te Anihana was heading towards Victoria Park and may have passed Les Mills\u2019<\/a> flagship gym \u2013 a busy fitness centre where a sprint class would have been getting underway around the same time.<\/p>\n

Anderson appealed to anyone who was at the gym early on Thursday August 21 who saw Te Anihana in her distinctive white clothing to contact police.<\/p>\n

\" Te Anihana Beau Pomana has been missing since August 21 when she was seen on CCTV leaving Auckland’s SkyCity at 5.06am.<\/p>\n

She also urged businesses with any relevant video to get in touch.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know people would have been at Les Mills. She could have been talking to someone, she could have caught a bus, taxi. We know she had some cash on her at that point.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said police had planned to hand out flyers outside the gym tomorrow morning but had called her this week to cancel the event because of a lack of staff.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just devastating to be honest. It\u2019s just like she\u2019s not important enough,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

However, Friend told the Herald the flyer drop would go ahead but more planning was needed first to get the best results.<\/p>\n

\" Te Anihana’s mother Catherine Anderson is appealing for help to find her daughter. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

Anderson told the Herald there\u2019s another concerning aspect to her daughter\u2019s disappearance \u2013 she\u2019d been in the carpark beneath SkyCity for two hours prior to leaving the building.<\/p>\n

Anderson said when she returned to her room she was in a dishevelled state with dirty clothing.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s gone down in clean clothing and come out dirty. We saw her going down [on SkyCity CCTV] but there\u2019s no camera footage showing where she went or what she was doing for those two hours,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She said Te Anihana\u2019s dirty clothing was left in her room and when she was spotted leaving the hotel that morning she was dressed in a clean outfit.<\/p>\n

\"TeTe Anihana spent two hours in SkyCity’s basement carpark before leaving the hotel on August 21. Photo \/ Kenny Rodger<\/p>\n

Friend confirmed Te Anihana spent around two hours in the SkyCity<\/a> basement carpark before leaving the hotel on August 21.<\/p>\n

\u201cLines of inquiry have been unable to establish why Te Anihana was there and police surmise her state of mind may have been a factor,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Anderson said she can\u2019t fathom how there\u2019s been no further sightings of her daughter in a city covered by CCTV, and in a place not far from where detectives traced the last steps of murdered British backpacker Grace Millane.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"CatherineCatherine Anderson is appealing for information about her missing daughter Te Anihana. Those who see her should call 111 and any other information about her whereabouts should be reported via 105 using reference number 250822\/6281. Photo \/ Anna Heath<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a mother it\u2019s just horrific. We\u2019re just hoping for something every day,\u201d she told the Herald.<\/p>\n

Anderson, who lives in Dunedin, has been doing her best to retrace her daughter\u2019s steps in the lead-up to her disappearance \u2013 including driving to a wh\u0101nau marae near Kaeo which Te Anihana visited a week before she went missing.<\/p>\n

Anderson said those at the marae had been amazing and helped put the word out about Te Anihana\u2019s disappearance.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not going to give up looking for her. We want to get her back, and we hope she\u2019s alive,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Health system concerns<\/p>\n

\"TeTe Anihana’s family say she spent time in a mental health ward before discharging herself. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

Catherine Anderson described her daughter as a vibrant energetic woman who was willing to help anyone.<\/p>\n

She said Te Anihana previously worked at the Office for Treaty Settlements which is part of the Justice Ministry and was part way through a masters in indigenous studies.<\/p>\n

However, Anderson said in recent months the 25-year-old suffered a significant mental health decline and her behaviour changed.<\/p>\n

\"SarahSarah Anderson said he niece spent a night with her in Auckland in July about a month before she disappeared. Photo \/ Anna Heath<\/p>\n

Her aunt Sarah Anderson last saw Te Anihana on July 19 \u2013 a month before she went missing \u2013 when she stayed with her in Auckland for a night.<\/p>\n

She told the Herald when she arrived, she had come from Middlemore Hospital after being treated for injuries in a car accident.<\/p>\n

Sarah Anderson said she appeared in good spirits during the brief visit.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou would not have even known anything was wrong. It was just normal Te Anihana. She ate; she slept. She didn\u2019t want to stay the hospital, but she was happy to be here,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\" Te Anihana Beau Pomana’s family say she experienced a significant decline in her mental health in recent months. She was last walking down Victoria Street West after leaving SkyCity hotel early on Thursday August 18.<\/p>\n

The following day, Te Anihana left Auckland and returned to her hometown of Dunedin to be with her mother.<\/p>\n

Catherine took her to Dunedin Hospital\u2019s emergency department to treat her injuries, and Te Anihana subsequently agreed to being admitted to a mental health ward at Wakari Hospital.<\/p>\n

She said her daughter was not sectioned under the Mental Health Act.<\/p>\n

Te Anihana subsequently left the ward \u2013 although Anderson said she wasn\u2019t informed of this despite a specific request she be told if her daughter discharged herself.<\/p>\n

Health New Zealand\u2019s director of specialist mental health and addiction Karla Bergquist said the Mental Health Act can require patients remain in hospital if there are safety concerns. <\/p>\n

However, in general, she said patients are within their rights to leave hospital when they choose.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven when under the Mental Health Act, a person may be granted leave from an inpatient setting as part of their treatment plan,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

On July 30, Te Anihana then flew to Christchurch and then on to Auckland where on August 18 she paid upfront for a week\u2019s stay at SkyCity.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe thought we were doing the right thing by getting her into hospital, but as it\u2019s turned out, we were not even notified that she had discharged herself,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Police say they hold grave concerns for Te Anihana\u2019s safety and urged anyone who sees her to call tripe one immediately. <\/p>\n

Anyone with other information about Te Anihana\u2019s whereabouts should call 105 and use the reference number 250822\/6281.<\/p>\n

Michael Morrah<\/a> is a senior investigative reporter\/team leader at the Herald. He won News Journalist of the Year at the 2025 Voyager Media Awards and has twice been named reporter of the year at the NZ Television Awards. He has been a broadcast journalist for 20 years and joined the Herald\u2019s video team in July 2024.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Anderson said her daughter was suffering mental health issues and the possibility that she had cash with her…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":52442,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[44963,1443,74,15408,38266,51,3952,642,44969,44962,44964,1558,26665,1121,6932,44968,14032,44972,44966,44965,2245,8456,1351,305,20285,11551,78,15415,302,20439,22055,2845,101,5494,6501,44971,6178,111,43,139,69,1118,44404,675,38267,12860,312,20863,7811,8529,44967,12633,44970,684,1237,4518,2201,1316,16550,1354],"class_list":["post-52441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-25yearold","tag-about","tag-after","tag-almost","tag-anihana","tag-auckland","tag-aucklands","tag-august","tag-aunt","tag-basement","tag-beau","tag-been","tag-carpark","tag-case","tag-cash","tag-creamcoloured","tag-daughter","tag-disappeared","tag-distinctive","tag-dressed","tag-early","tag-fresh","tag-had","tag-have","tag-hotels","tag-hours","tag-in","tag-information","tag-its","tag-jersey","tag-leads","tag-leaving","tag-left","tag-michael","tag-missing","tag-morrah","tag-mother","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-of","tag-pants","tag-police","tag-pomana","tag-revealed","tag-says","tag-she","tag-since","tag-skycity","tag-sneakers","tag-spent","tag-spoke","tag-there","tag-two","tag-weeks","tag-went","tag-when","tag-white","tag-woman"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52441","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52441"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52441\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52442"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}