On 11 September 2021, Tom Phillips and his three children went missing for the first time. His vehicle was discovered parked at a beach in Marokopa, New Zealand, prompting a large-scale search effort involving land, sea, and air resources. Less than three weeks later, the family returned, and Phillips stated they had been camping. However, on 12 December 2021, they disappeared again, with minimal sightings and no confirmed evidence of their location.
The situation escalated on a Monday morning when police, responding to a burglary report, engaged in a shootout with Phillips, resulting in his death and concluding a four-year manhunt. Unanswered questions remain regarding his motivations for taking his children and eluding authorities for so long. Previously charged with wasting police resources due to the substantial cost of the initial search, Phillips’s legal issues compounded when he failed to appear in court in January 2022, leading to a warrant for his arrest. He was last seen alone in February 2022 and remained hidden for over a year.
Authorities speculated that Phillips’s actions were connected to a custody dispute with the children’s mother. Reports indicated he was experienced in bush survival and had a desire to live off-grid. From August to November 2023, several sightings were reported, including alleged robberies when he and one child were observed attempting to break into a store.
In June 2024, police issued an NZ$80,000 reward for information about the family, which yielded no results. Their next sighting occurred in October when a group of teenagers spotted them in the bush and recorded a brief encounter. A search following this sighting found no immediate success, largely due to the perceived danger posed by Phillips.
Phillips was last recorded on CCTV in late August 2025, involved in alleged burglary activities. His encounter with police on the day of his death resulted in serious injury to an officer and raised further inquiries into the nature of his evasion. The child with him was unharmed and has since provided information leading to the welfare of the other children, who are now under protective care.
Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cly0279yervo?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss