Inside details reveal how a fugitive father has managed to survive in the wilderness with his three kidnapped kids – as a cabal of Kiwi cookers helps them hide from the cops
A fugitive on the run with his three children in the New Zealand wilderness could get help from a gang of locals who are helping them hide, locals have revealed.
Tom Phillips disappeared with Jayda, 11, Maverick, nine, and Ember, eight, near his parents’ home in Marokopa, south of Auckland, in December 2021 after ongoing disputes with their mother, Cat.
The family was feared dead until October 3, when three teenage pig hunters filmed them crossing private property near where they went missing, dressed in camouflage and carrying large backpacks.
Locals in the Waikato region told Daily Mail Australia they lock up their sheds at night for fear Phillips – who homeschooled his children and never had a good job – could loot their properties.
Police claimed the rogue dad robbed a bank, stole two quad bikes and is ‘armed and dangerous’.
Those who live in the area say finding food in the wild wouldn’t be too difficult as there is an abundance of wild boar, cattle and possums.
But they added that without help it would be virtually impossible to stay warm in the frigid conditions and stay out of sight.
‘It has rained a lot in recent weeks and they have survived two winters. It doesn’t matter how good you are at bushcraft, with three small children you can’t escape the cold and wet,” said one man.
“People have to help him.”
Pictured: A ‘missing’ poster in the window of a shop in the Waikato region where the family disappeared
In the photo: the Phillips family home. Tom Phillips stayed there before disappearing with his children
Julia and Neville declined to comment when contacted by Daily Mail Australia
The town of Marokopa has only twenty permanent residents, including Phillips’ mother and father, Neville and Julia.
Marokopa and a number of neighboring towns are littered with ‘missing’ posters of Phillips and the children’s faces.
When contacted by Daily Mail Australia, Mr Phillips Snr made no public appeal for his son to bring his grandchildren back home.
Instead he said, “You are banned from my property.”
Others in the area were convinced that police had acted too slowly when the family was sighted on October 3 and asked why the army was not called in to search.
“By the time the police arrived it was too late,” one man said.
“He would have gone down the hill in about 30 minutes and been away on foot. They had to get there quickly and that wasn’t the case.’
The police search was restarted after the last sighting, but was called off after a few days.
Pictured: Marokopa, which only has about 20 permanent residents in the city
Locals believe someone is helping fugitive father Tom Phillips (pictured), who is on the run with his three children
This week there was no sign of a police officer or vehicle in Marokopa or the surrounding towns. The nearest police station is over an hour’s drive away.
“You can call them over here, but they have to finish their tea first and take a break and then come over here, so it might take a while,” one woman said, half-jokingly.
Military lawyers told the NZ Herald that police are unable to conduct long-range patrols in search of Phillips and his children, but that this is within the capabilities of the New Zealand Special Air Service.
Matthew Haag told the newspaper that this could only happen if the police commissioner was convinced that a situation was beyond the police’s capabilities.
The commissioner could then make a formal request to the Prime Minister to order the armed forces.
If the military were deployed, they would have the power to make arrests and use lethal force if necessary, but they would also have to do everything in their power to avoid confrontation.
Locals are seriously concerned that if Phillips is ever tracked down and cornered, the situation could turn deadly.
Pictured: the children with their mother Cat, on Jayda’s birthday
Cat (pictured) is the mother of missing children, Jayda, 11, Maverick, 9, and Ember, 8, who are believed to be living off the land with their fugitive father Tom Phillips
The father and three children, who have not been seen for three years, were spotted on the west coast of New Zealand (pictured)
“I hope there isn’t a final showdown, like a shootout or something,” one person said.
‘Those poor children. They will be traumatized.”
In addition to the kidnapping of his own children, Phillips is wanted for questioning over an alleged armed robbery of a bank in Te Kuiti near Marokopa in September 2023.
Security footage of the alleged armed robbery showed a man on a motorcycle with a smaller accomplice on the back. Both were dressed from head to toe in black clothing. According to police, the second suspect in the robbery was a woman.
The teenager who saw the family initially thought they were poachers, so they filmed the group walking over the hills.
They told a girl, whose face was covered by a mask, that the area was private.
She said, “Yeah… duh.
The teen then asked: “Does anyone know you’re here?”
She said: No, just you.’
An $80,000 reward was offered for information that would help locate the three children, but it expired after eight weeks with no results.