Missing Marokopa man Tom Phillips sighted: Survival expert, child psychologist detail bush life for wanted father and kids

Missing Marokopa man Tom Phillips, who disappeared with his three children almost two years ago, was spotted three times in different Waikato towns on Wednesday.

The sightings are the first in 17 months and have reinvigorated efforts to bring them home, with police saying a vehicle they believed was driven by Phillips would be the key to tracking him down.

When they first disappeared in 2021, Phillips’ children Jayda, Maverick and Ember were 8, 6 and 5 years old respectively. Jayda is now 10, Maverick is 8 and Ember is 7.

Phillips and his children turned up 17 days later, on September 30, 2021, before he disappeared again with them on December 9, 2021.

A child psychologist told the Herald that Phillips’ children were at a formative age for their mental, emotional and social development and the isolation they were likely experiencing could hinder that.

“With this length of time, it will be very unlikely those kids don’t feel there’s something wrong,” Kathryn Berkett said.

Meanwhile, a survival expert detailed to the Herald the kind of living conditions Phillips and his children could be in should they be hiding in the bush.

“He’ll be reliant on the environment: taking down trees for wood for a fire to cook, provide heat, a bit of morale, he could have [made] a good shelter, but they’ll be running low on their rations,” Stu Gilbert said.

Police Inspector Will Loughrin said police were considering all possibilities about Phillips’ whereabouts, including that he may have set up a camp.

Loughrin said Phillips was spotted in Pokuru, south of Te Awamutu, at 12.30pm on Wednesday. At 4pm, he was seen in a Bunnings Warehouse car park in Te Rapa, Hamilton.

At 6.45pm, Phillips was involved in an altercation with a member of the public, which was reported to police. Phillips’ movements covered a 125km journey around Waikato.

Loughrin said police believed Phillips was driving a stolen 2003 bronze-coloured Toyota Hilux. The police Eagle helicopter was deployed from Auckland to find the vehicle but without success.

“This is the best piece of information we’ve received in some time. We need to find that vehicle,” Loughrin said. “We need the public’s support to find that vehicle.

“The family are desperately missing them. For anyone with information about the Toyota ute, we ask them to report current sightings to 111 and any historical sightings to the 105 number.”

Phillips, who in January last year failed to show for a court appearance on a charge of causing wasteful deployment of police personnel and resources, has changed his appearance since his last sighting, Loughrin said.

The person who saw Phillips in the Bunnings car park was known to him and has given police a “detailed” account of what happened.

“We believe there are people in the community who know where Tom is,” Loughrin said. “And we believe they are assisting him.”

Loughrin addressed Phillips directly: “Do the right thing. Bring the kids home.

“We need you to come in and speak to us and resolve this. Eighteen months is too long. The kids need to see their parents, their mother, and their grandparents.”

Gilbert, a bush instructor with and founder of SOS Survival Training, said it was likely Phillips was getting help for him to survive in the wild so long.

“He’s probably had a very well-thought-out plan in place ahead of time. He could be living quite comfortably in a hut he’s built and relying on hunting animals for food,” Gilbert said.

“He could have a shotgun to hunt, but then he’d need ammunition, he’d need to go to town for that. He could be using a bow so he can reuse it.

“And relying on [hunting] will often see stocks run low. That’s when he’ll be relying on cans of baked beans. He’ll need those from town.

“During winter, he’ll have to have a fire going 24/7. That’ll put a lot of pressure on resources. He’d have gone through hundreds of bottles if he was relying on [a] butane [cooker].”

Gilbert said there would be times life would be incredibly tough: “You will have miserable weeks. There has got to be low points.

“Psychologically, talk about a removal from society - the kids, you know, they need interaction.”

Berkett, an educator on psychology, said how the children were faring would hinge on Phillips’ state of mind.

“If he’s having to avoid being noticed by people, I couldn’t imagine that he could do that while making his kids feel safe.

“Kids are going to pick up [parents’] emotions and stuff. It’s unlikely [Phillips] is very calm and providing a good space for his kids,” she said.

Berkett said it could be difficult for the children to adjust to life in society again.

“We’re made to live as a tribe with lots of people around us,” she said.

“The brain needs lots of contribution from lots of different people. The kids are going to be impacted by [the lack of] that.”

Earlier, a private investigator who was employed by the children’s family said the sightings lined up with his theory the family would be within 80-100km of Phillips’ parents’ place. The family also offered a $10,000 bounty for any information on their whereabouts.

The PI, Chris Budge, is now working on the case in his own time and said this week’s sightings were great news for the family and he wouldn’t be too worried the children were not with Phillips.

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