Police launch new search for fugitive father and children missing in New Zealand wilderness for three years

The Guardian

12-03-2025

New Zealand police are launching a fresh operation in the rugged North Island wilderness to track down a fugitive father and his three children who have been missing for more than three years.
Just before Christmas 2021, Tom Phillips fled into a remote area of Waikato with his children Ember, thought to be now aged 9, Maverick, 10, and Jayda, 11, following a dispute with their mother. Phillips does not have legal custody for his children.
Phillips comes from a farming family in Marokopa – a tiny coastal settlement of fewer than 100 people, part of the vast Waikato region where he and his children are presumed to be hiding.
'Police will be present in the wider Marokopa area over the next few days as we continue making inquiries into the whereabouts of Tom Phillips and his three children,' detective senior sergeant Andy Saunders said in a statement.
Officers will be conducting inquiries north of Marokopa, in and around the remote settlements of Te Waitere and Te Maika.
'This has not been prompted by any specific sighting – it is simply a continuation of the ongoing investigation,' Saunders said.
The Guardian has contacted the police for further comment.
The Waikato area is made up of long sweeping coastline to the west, forested terrain and farmland in the centre, limestone cave networks to the north and a smattering of small rural towns and settlements throughout. Marokopa is a quiet, isolated settlement in the Waikato, two hours from the nearest city, Hamilton, with one long winding road in and out of the densely forested and hilly landscape.
The remoteness of the landscape has so far frustrated police attempts to locate Phillips.
The case has fascinated New Zealanders, who have struggled to understand how, in a country of close-knit communities, Phillips has evaded detection. While there is no suggestion his family has helped him, the question of how Phillips has managed to conceal himself and his three children – and survive – in the harsh terrain has puzzled the nation, leading to speculation others in the community may be aiding him.
Phillips' lengthy disappearance was preempted by an earlier – albeit shorter – stint where he went bush with his children. In September 2021, the four were reported missing and his ute was found abandoned along the Marokopa shoreline, resulting in a major search operation across land and sea.
Nineteen days later, Phillips and the children walked into his parents' farmhouse just outside Marokopa. Phillips claimed he had taken his children on an extended camping trip in dense bush in an effort to clear his head. He was charged with wasting police time and resources.
But fewer than three months later, the four were reported missing again and when Phillips failed to show for a January court appearance, a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Sightings of Phillips and his children over the last three years have been rare and fleeting. In November, Phillips allegedly stole a quad bike from a rural property and broke into a shop in Piopio, with CCTV footage showing two figures on a street, believed to be Phillips and one of his children. While there were reportedly several other sightings in mid-2023 and an $80,000 reward put up for information in June, the trail later went cold.'
Police describe Phillips as someone who 'doesn't live a mainstream lifestyle', eschewing social media and limiting his use of mainstream banks. Meanwhile, his purchases of camping items and seedlings suggest he may be living off the land.
In October 2024, footage emerged of an adult and three children walking through Marokopa farmland, after a chance encounter with teenage pig hunters who pulled out their phones and began filming. Police believed it to be Phillips and his three children. A police search of the area the following day failed to find them.
The children's mother, Cat, has spoken of her grief being separated from her children and has regularly appealed to Phillips to come forward.