Missing Marokopa man Tom Phillips’ eldest child to celebrate birthday on the run

Missing Marokopa man Tom Phillips’ eldest daughter will have her 11th birthday tomorrow, 30 months after her fugitive father took her and her siblings and disappeared in the Waikato bush.

Jayda was 8 years old when the family went missing, her brother Maverick was 7 and her younger sister Ember was 5. Jayda’s birthday is June 18, police have said.

The milestone comes as attention on Phillips and his children ramps up, with police issuing an $80,000 reward for information on their whereabouts, deploying officers to Marokopa and then Ōtoroganga, and setting up checkpoints in the hope of finding them.

It also comes after an anonymous woman claimed to have spotted Phillips and his three children at the Okoroire Hot Springs Hotel, a two-hour drive from Marokopa, two weeks ago.

Phillips first disappeared with his three children on September 11, 2021. Emergency services mobilised to search for the family after his car was found abandoned on a beach. Phillips turned up almost three weeks later, on September 30.

Police then charged him with wasteful deployment of police resources but Phillips did not show up at his first court appearance on January 12, 2022. Police then issued a warrant for his arrest. He and his children officially went missing again on December 2, 2021.

Phillips evaded the attention of police for 19 months before he was seen shopping while wearing a disguise, allegedly stole a car and then got into a fight with a member of the public last August.

Police then accused Phillips of robbing a bank last May.

Clockwise from top left; Tom Phillips, Jayda Phillips, Ember Phillips and Maverick Callam-Phillips. Photo / New Zealand Police

The latest incident saw him allegedly steal a bike with one of his children and smash a storefront on November 2.

Locals in Ōtorohanga, a more than hour’s drive from Marokopa, talked to the Herald about their concerns for the Phillips children.

Tim Dimsdale used to work on the Phillips’ family farm: “I feel sorry for the kids. Having said that, it will be a great book or movie if they do come out.”

Hazel, who worked at Mobil Ōtorohanga, said: “For myself, I don’t give a s*** about him. It’s the kids. People say he was a good father, but if he was a good father, why did he run?

“Bring your kids home.”

Over the road, Anglican Church Reverend Joseph Pene has one foot ready to go should he encounter Phillips.

“I’d give him a kick in the backside [and] I’d tell him to think about his family, and not himself … it’s heartbreaking.”

Kassa Nelson, working at a local vape shop, said: “I just hope the kids are all right. They can’t go to school, and they must be missing their mum.”

Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.