A grainy video filmed from across a field on New Zealand’s rugged west coast has become the first “credible” sighting of a father and his three children who disappeared years ago.
Tom Phillips, along with daughter Jayda, now 11, son Maverick, 9, and youngest daughter Ember, 8, disappeared from the New Zealand town of Marokopa in December 2021 and are believed to have been living in the wilderness.
Since then, “hundreds” of Phillips sightings have been reported to police, many of them unverified, but none involving the children. Their distraught mother Catherine said she was incredibly relieved to see all three of her ‘babies’ alive.
The new footage, shot on October 3, showed four figures in camouflage clothing carrying heavy backpacks – clearly an adult a few steps ahead of three children – walking single file across the rolling hills outside Marokopa in the North Island.
The video, filmed by pig hunters, was handed over to police, prompting a major search of farmland in the area this week. Unfortunately, this did not yield any sign of the group.
The children’s mother, who wants to be known only as Catherine, saw the video.
“I’m so happy they’re all here,” she told the New Zealand Herald.
‘I’m so relieved to see all three of my babies. They’re all alive.’
A father and three children who have not been seen for three years have been spotted on the west coast of New Zealand (pictured)
Thomas Phillips (pictured) has been on the run for two and a half years and continues to evade authorities
Investigations are underway with New Zealand Police Detective Andrew Saunders confirming the sighting was being treated as ‘credible’.
“While nothing further of significance has been found, investigators will now review the information gathered to determine any next steps,” he said.
‘This is the first time all three children have been sighted, which is positive information, and we know it will be reassuring to the children’s wider family.’
Before the group disappeared, the father and his three young children first went missing on September 11, 2021.
Police and emergency services, along with hundreds of volunteers and locals, spent days searching for the family after his ute was found below the high tide line at Kiritehere Beach.
About 18 days later, they returned to the family farm with relatives and revealed they had spent the time in a tent in dense bushland.
However, they disappeared again months later, with the last sighting of the father and his three children on December 9, 2021.
Phillips failed to show up in court weeks later in January 2022 on charges of causing a waste of police personnel and resources, with his absence leading to a warrant for his arrest.
He has also been wanted for questioning since September 2023 over an alleged armed robbery of a bank in Te Kuiti near Marokopa.
Saunders at the time urged the public not to approach Phillips. who could be armed.
In June this year, an $80,000 reward was offered for two weeks for information that could help locate the three children. However, this reward expired without result, despite more than forty observations considered important by officers.
He added that police believe he had help during his escape.
“Immunity from prosecution will be considered for anyone who committed a criminal offense by assisting Tom Phillips, if he provides information or evidence leading to the location and safe return of the children,” Saunders said in June.
Catherine previously accused Mr Phillips of endangering and robbing the children.
Catherine shared a photo of her and the three children celebrating eldest daughter Jayden’s birthday
“Ember, like me, is asthmatic and she needs medical care that cannot be provided from within the country,” she said.
‘Many of you say the children are doing well and being well cared for.
‘How do you know that? Have you seen them? Or is it just bush talk?
‘What Thomas is doing is not okay. It is not okay to divide and conquer, to isolate and control.
“It’s child neglect, it’s child neglect, it’s child abuse. My babies deserve better.”