A friend of John Beckenridge has revealed he received a letter from the missing man after his disappearance.
But it made him "so disturbed" he threw it out after reading it, a court has heard.
The friend and former colleague, Wayne Dawson, said he received the letter on March 16, 2015. Three days earlier, Beckenridge had breached a parenting order when he went to his stepson Mike's school and picked him up before heading to the Catlins, an exposed area at the bottom of the South Island, where they camped at various locations.
They were never seen again.
Dawson, describing the letter in a coroner's court to determine whether the pair is dead or alive, said he couldn't "believe what I was reading".
"My first thought was was this a reference to a suicide," he said.
"I was so disturbed that I destroyed the letter because I thought to myself, 'I'm just watching too many movies on TV - this can't be right,'" said Dawson.
He said while he couldn't remember the letter in its entirety, one phrase that stuck out for him was Beckenridge writing "forgive me for what" he was going to do.
Dawson was surprised to receive the letter given he had only recently spoken with Beckenridge, he said.
The purpose of the ongoing hearing is for coroner Marcus Elliot to rule whether they are dead or alive. Mike's mother believes her son is still alive and his disappearance was staged by her ex-husband.
Beckenridge's car was found at the bottom of sheer cliffs near Curio Bay in the Catlins along with other things belonging to the duo including a tent, sleeping bags and empty fuel containers at a campsite soon after their disappearance - but the pair has never been heard from nor have their bodies been found.
The coroner's hearing continues.
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- Shakti Community Council - 0800 742 584
