Shattered sister reveals the haunting last conversation with her siblings – before their dad snatched them and vanished into the NZ wilderness for three years
The sister of three children who disappeared with their fugitive father in the New Zealand wilderness three years ago has recalled their last conversation.
Jubilee Dawson is the half-sister of Jayda, 11, Maverick, 9, and Ember, 8, who were kidnapped by their father Tom Phillips in December 2021 and disappeared into rugged terrain near their home in Marokopa, south of Auckland.
Family and police feared for the children’s lives until October 3, when they were spotted by teenage hunters on private property in nearby Te Anga, wearing camouflage and carrying large backpacks.
The search for the family resumed, but no one has seen them since.
It was the second time Phillips took his children unexpectedly off the grid – the first was for 19 days in September 2021, prompting an extensive land, sea and air search operation by police.
When he showed up with all three children at his parents’ farm, 15 km north of the search area, he said they had camped near a beach and was accused of wasting police resources.
Now, in an unearthed interview with 1NewsJubilee says she, her sister Storm and their mother Cat, briefly saw the children the night they first emerged from the wilderness.
She told them they were “not allowed to talk about their ‘camping trip,'” but they knew they were missing, and talked about eating moldy rice.
Another emotional interview has emerged in which Jubilee Dawson spoke about her young half-siblings, who have been missing for almost three years
The father and three children, who have not been seen for three years, were spotted on the west coast of New Zealand (pictured)
Cat is pictured with her three young children before they went missing in 2021
“They kept asking me and Storm to stay the night, saying there were spare rooms,” Jubilee recalled.
“They said their rice was moldy, they said they were near water, and Maverick said they had been walking a lot.
“That’s all the information they gave us.”
Within the next few days, their mother took them to the park and Jayda asked a stranger if they knew who she was.
Jubilee continued, “So I think they were well aware that they were missing, they are well aware that they were on TV the first time, and I think they are well aware that they are not supposed to be gone .’
Weeks later, Phillips disappeared from his parents’ home with his children.
Jubilee and her family found out when they called Phillips’ parents, who said they hadn’t seen him in a few days.
Cat called the police, but Jubilee said the second search was not taken as seriously as the first.
Tom Phillips (pictured) disappeared along with daughter Jayda, now 11, son Maverick, 9, and youngest daughter Ember, 8, from the New Zealand town of Marokopa in December 2021
Her family conducted their own searches of the area, but these were called off by police due to public safety concerns.
They also tried to finance a $10,000 reward, but police feared a financial incentive would lead to other kidnappings.
Jubilee chose to speak out last year because she feared the world had forgotten them.
She also shared memories of her half-younger siblings.
“Jayda is the most outgoing…she’s definitely the most confident of the three…likes to talk to everyone,” Jubilee recalled.
“Maverick is more introverted, I would say he’s shyer… Ember is the youngest, and more sweet and bubbly.”
Jubilee feared her siblings would now be “traumatized and scared” and worried they didn’t know their family was looking for them.
“We love them very much, and we’re just waiting for them to come home,” she said.
There have been several reports of sightings of the family since December 2021 – once by Cat in a Bunnings car park in New Zealand in August 2023.
She sent a photo of the car he was driving to the police.
CCTV footage shows a man – believed to be Phillips – wearing a hat, glasses and a mask entering the store with a shopping cart.
In May last year, two armed people entered an ANZ bank in Te Kūiti, demanding cash before fleeing on a black motorcycle.
Police linked Phillips to the robbery months later, charging him with aggravated robbery, aggravated battery and unlawful possession of a firearm.
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
Phillips is also 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.
Police say the Oct. 3 sighting was the most credible sighting they had ever had.
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.