Inspector Will Loughrin speaks to the media after the father of three missing Marokopa children, Tom Phillips, was seen in the Kāwhia area.
Missing dad Tom Phillips may have been hiding right under police’s noses all along and camping out with his children near where he first disappeared, a Marokopa local says.
Police will continue their hunt today for Phillips following a dramatic 24 hours after 18 months of the trail in the search for the Waikato man going cold.
Officers yesterday swooped on a bronze Toyota Hilux ute Phillips had been seen driving, but the 36-year-old remains on the run with his children Jayda, 10, Maverick, 8, and Ember, 7, who haven’t been since December 2021.
It also emerged that earlier this week, the owner of the ute pursued Phillips while he was driving the vehicle and tried to run him off the road.
Inspector Will Loughrin said yesterday that Phillips is disguising himself in public and released security footage from his shopping excursion to Bunnings where he was wearing a beanie, glasses and a surgical mask.
Loughrin said police had made inquiries around the North and South islands in the hunt for Phillips — as well as following up purported sightings overseas.
But a man who knows the Phillips family and lives in the Marokopa area told the Weekend Herald there were plenty of places with thick bush as well as caves in the region where Phillips and his children could have been hiding.
And the owner of the ute Phillips was seen driving has also discovered winter clothes and other items missing from their property that would be useful for a stay in the bush, Newshub reported.
Police descended on the ute yesterday after a tip-off about 11am from a member of the public, who saw the Hilux covered by bush just off Marokopa Rd in Te Anga.
This week’s search included the police Eagle helicopter. The owners of the stolen ute earlier made a plea for sightings of the vehicle after it was stolen from their Waikato rural property while they were at work.
The distinctive 2003 Toyota Hilux flat-deck ute driven by Phillips was stolen from Honikiwi, near Otorohanga, on Wednesday.
The Toyota Hilux ute Tom Phillips was seen driving on Wednesday has been recovered by police but he continues to elude efforts to be found.
The upset owners and their friends posted a photo of the ute on community Facebook pages that same day asking for people to report sightings of the vehicle, which they said was stolen from Honikiwi Rd during the day. Loughrin said the vehicle was spotted in Kawhia three times on Wednesday.
The first was in the Pokuru area near Te Awamutu around 12.30pm on Wednesday.
There had been a further confirmed sighting of Phillips at two Bunnings stores, the first at Bunnings South on Kahikatea Drive between 3pm and 4pm.
Phillips was then seen at Bunnings in Te Rapa at 4pm by someone who knew him.
The same ute was then seen in Kawhia around 6.45pm, where Phillips was involved in an altercation with a group of locals who tried to stop him.
The ute owner was one of those involved in the altercation and tried to run Phillips off the road, Newshub reported.
Police descended on the ute yesterday after a tip-off from a member of the public, who saw the Hilux covered by bush just off Marokopa Rd in Te Anga.
Loughrin said police were contacted and responded immediately to the Kawhia area but were unable to find the ute on Wednesday — even with the help of the police helicopter.
Photos this week released by the police from the store’s car park show four 20L water storage containers, a red plastic fuel can, two rolls of plastic mesh and six 20L Bunnings buckets — all of which are listed for sale on the store’s website — in the back of the ute as he drove out just after 4pm.
On Thursday police said this week’s appearances were the first confirmed sightings of the missing man since February 2021.
When Phillips and his children first went missing their disappearance sparked a huge ground, sea and air search, with family at home fearing the worst as the father’s grey Toyota Hilux was found on the beach, with waves crashing against it.
Missing man and children map
They returned home after 17 days and in October, police charged Phillips with wasteful deployment of police resources.
But Phillips didn’t show up at the Te Kuiti District Court for his first appearance on January 12, 2022.
