Fugitive Dad, 3 Kids Spotted Years After Disappearing

New Zealand police have yet to locate Tom Phillips and the children, missing since 2021
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 9, 2024 7:49 AM CDT
Updated Oct 13, 2024 7:06 AM CDT

The mother of three children who were taken by their father three years ago says she's "relieved" to know they're alive based on a recent sighting. The children—Jayda, 11, Maverick, 9, and Ember, 8—and their father, Tom Phillips, were spotted in the Waikato region of New Zealand's upper North Island on Thursday. Teenage hunters saw the group traveling over farmland in the remote Marokopa community and started filming, the Guardian reports. Phillips and all three children were wearing camouflage and masks and carrying large packs, per the New Zealand Herald. A grandfather of one of the hunters said the 16-year-old asked, "What are you doing here? Who are you? Does anybody else know you're here?" and one of the children responded, "Only you," per the Guardian.

Phillips, who was carrying a gun, reportedly kept the children moving. Meanwhile, the hunters called police, who determined the sighting was credible. It was the first proof in three years that all three children are alive. Phillips and his offspring were initially reported missing on Sept. 11, 2021. They turned up 19 days later, with Phillips claiming they'd only been on a long camping trip, but less than three months later, the whole group vanished again. Phillips has allegedly been involved in various thefts and an armed bank robbery since then. He and one of the children were last been spotted in November on CCTV footage from Piopio, where they are believed to have broken into a shop.

"Patrols began in the area on Thursday night and a search was launched the following morning," Detective Inspector Andrew Saunders said, per the Herald. Authorities searched for three days with air support, "but found nothing of significance," per RNZ. "While we cannot go into detail ... our focus is very much on the safe return of Jayda, Maverick and Ember to their [family] and we are doing all that we can to make that happen," said Saunders. Though relieved to know her children are alive, mother Cat Phillips tells RNZ, "They need to be home, they don't belong out there." She adds anyone who might be assisting her estranged husband needs to stop. "Supporting Thomas is essentially supporting child abuse because that's what it is," she says. "It's like a waking nightmare every single day." (More New Zealand stories.)

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