EXCLUSIVE
A father accused of orchestrating an armed bank robbery two years after heading into the wilderness with his three young children may not be guilty of theft, according to a bank employee.
Tom Phillips disappeared in the hills around Marokopa, south of Auckland, in December 2021 with Jayda, 11, Maverick, nine, and Ember, eight, after a custody battle with their mother, Cat.
They were feared dead until October 3, when teenage pig hunters filmed them wandering the countryside dressed in army-style combat fatigues and carrying heavy backpacks.
Phillips is now on the run and wanted by police for a series of crimes allegedly committed in the Waikato region, including stealing quad bikes and robbing an ANZ bank with one of his daughters in Te Kuiti.
However, the locals are convinced that he was not the thief, because within the close-knit community they know who the real robber was. The real criminal has never been caught.
“It wasn’t Tom,” one woman told Daily Mail Australia.
“My girlfriend works at the bank and she knows… It wasn’t Tom.”
Pictured: CCTV footage of two thieves outside the ANZ bank in Te Kuiti. Police believe the person on the left is Tom Phillips and the other is one of his children
Pictured: A ‘missing’ poster in the window of a shop in the Waikato region where the family disappeared
Pictured: The ANZ bank in Te Kuiti, which police say was robbed by Tom Phillips and one of his children
The woman said the released police surveillance video, which apparently shows Phillips wearing a mask and an accomplice, does not prove the robber’s identity.
‘What do the police have? CCTV of a man in a mask? It’s nothing,” she said.
A local man pointed out that the thief was the same height as Phillips, but that was where the similarity ended.
“His height matches, but that’s all they have,” he said.
“Two arms and two legs, motorcycle helmet.”
The woman explained that the case has divided the Waikato region based on whether they are on ‘Team Tom’ or ‘Team Cat’, but people are too afraid to speak out for fear of retaliation for their views.
“I’m on Team Tom, but if you say that and some extreme supporters on the other side know who you are, they come to your house and threaten you,” she said.
‘I would help him if he came to my door and I know many other people who would.
‘I think he’s just a father who loves his children and is desperate to keep them off the court. He wanted to protect them, and this is what he had to do.”
She said opinions within the small community were divided based on longstanding loyalties on both sides of the family.
Tom Phillips (photo) disappeared with his three children in December 2021
The Phillips children, pictured from left to right: Ember, now eight, Maverick, now nine, and Jayda, now 11
“Missing” posters can be seen in storefronts in the area towns where they went missing, but there are none in Marokopa itself, where Phillips’ parents live.
The woman said the locations of the ‘missing’ posters show how polarizing the issue has become in the area.
Cat, the children’s mother, previously described Phillips as a controlling person who uses the children “as pawns in his game.”
“Supporting Thomas is essentially supporting child abuse, because that’s what it is,” she previously told local media.
“I just want my babies to come home. I still have some of their clothes and Christmas presents from the year they disappeared. I don’t even know what they look like now.’
The 16-year-old hunters who captured images of the fugitive clan earlier in October thought the group were poachers and shouted at them. Jayda replied.
“I said, ‘This is private property,’ and she said, ‘Yeah… duh.’ Then I asked, “Does anyone know you’re here?” and she said, “No, just you guys,” one of the boys told local media.
Cat (pictured) is the mother of the missing Phillips children who are believed to be living off the land with their fugitive father Tom Phillips
A father and three children who have not been seen for three years have been spotted on the west coast of New Zealand (pictured)
Since the footage emerged, Cat has wondered if her daughter was trying to get a message across to the public.
She said, ‘Is that a cry for help? Is that: ‘Does anyone know we’re here? Is someone coming for us?” We can’t hear the tone of her voice, but for me I think so.’
“It’s like she’s trying to say something without actually saying anything because her father is there, and she’s worried if she says the wrong thing and phrases it the wrong way, she’s worried about the consequences later.”
Police offered an $80,000 reward for information that would help locate the three children, but it expired after eight weeks with no results.
The official search was called off after a few days.
No one has seen Phillips or his children since the sighting in early October.