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.
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.
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?
On the Run
The search for fugitive dad Tom Phillips and his three children
September 11, 2021
Tom Phillips vanishes for the first time with his three young children Jayda, now aged 11, Maverick, now aged 9, and Ember, now aged 7, from a beach near Marokopa.
1 The discovery of his ute on the shoreline sparks a major land and sea search.
2 The quartet later return to a family farm almost three weeks later, with Phillips saying he needed timeout.
Phillips is charged with wasting police resources.
December 9, 2021
Almost a month before a scheduled court appearance, Phillips again takes his children from Marokopa.
An arrest warrant is then issued after he fails to appear before court.
May 2022
The mother of the three missing children makes a public appeal for any information which might lead to their discovery.
She also says she believes that Phillips is “getting help from someone which has allowed them to stay off the grid for the past six months”.
September 2022
Police rule out issuing a reward for any information leading to the safe return of the children and the arrest of Phillips. Soon after the children’s maternal family launch a givealittle which contributes to their own $10,000 reward.
May 16, 2023
3 Phillips allegedly robbed a bank and shot at a supermarket worker in Te Kūiti in May, prompting police to issue a warrant for his arrest on September 5.
Police charged him with aggravated robbery, aggravated wounding and unlawfully possessing a firearm over the armed heist of ANZ Te Kūiti on Rora St on May 16.
August 2, 2023
Phillips is seen driving a ute which is reported to be stolen from near Kāwhia.
4 He is seen in two different Bunnings Warehouse stores, disguising himself with glasses and a surgical facemask. He used cash to buy items, which suggested he may have set up a campsite, including headlamps, batteries, seedlings, buckets and gumboots.
5 Later that day, Phillips gets into a fight with the owner of the stolen ute in Kāwhia. The owner tries to run Phillips off the road. The owner also realises winter clothing is missing from his property.
September 2023
Police revealed they had received 14 reports of sightings of Phillips throughout September.
Detective Inspector Saunders said: “Unfortunately, none of these reported sightings of Tom Phillips or the three children have been positive.”
November 2, 2023
6 Phillips allegedly stole a quad bike from a rural Waikato property and then broke into a shop with one of his children on November 2.
Police appealed for any sightings from the public of Phillips, his children or the stolen quad bike.
7 Security footage from the Piopio shop shows the masked pair smashing the front glass and fleeing north after the alarm was set off about 2am.
June 14, 2024
8 After three days of intensive activity in Marokopa (1), police focus moved to Ōtorohanga
June 25, 2024
$80,000 reward offer from police ends on June 25.
“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.
