The search for 36-year-old Phillips and his children, Jayda, Maverick and Ember, 10, 8, and 7 respectively, was reinvigorated after the sightings - the first in 17 months. Photos / Supplied
The search for 36-year-old Phillips and his children, Jayda, Maverick and Ember, 10, 8, and 7 respectively, was reinvigorated after the sightings - the first in 17 months. Photos / Supplied
Missing Marokopa man Tom Phillips will keep hiding with his three children “as long as he can,” his cousin says, while police work through tips on his whereabouts sent in from the public.
Police found a stolen ute Phillips had been driving hidden in the bush off Marokopa Rd inTe Anga yesterday after a tip-off. Phillips was seen four times on Wednesday.
The search for 36-year-old Phillips and his children, Jayda, Maverick and Ember, 10, 8, and 7 respectively, was reinvigorated after the sightings - the first in 17 months.
But Phillips’ cousin Trevor Neal told Newshub he would “keep hiding as long as he can”.
Missing Marokopa man Tom Phillips will keep hiding with his three children “as long as he can,” his cousin says, while police work through tips on his whereabouts sent in from the public. Photos / Belinda Feek / Supplied
Neal said: “As long as the kids are fine - I’d say they are, otherwise somebody would have heard something by now.
“He could [still] be [in the area]. I don’t know,” Neal told Newshub.
Inspector Will Loughrin said Phillips was disguising himself in public.
Police released security footage from Phillips’ shopping excursion to Bunnings Warehouse on Wednesday where he wore a beanie, glasses and asurgical mask.
Missing father Tom Phillips has disguised himself while shopping at Bunnings. Photo / NZ Police
Phillips’ trip to Bunnings was one of four sightings: The first at 12.30pm in Pokuru, south of Te Awamutu, the second between 3 and 4pm at Bunnings on Kahikatea Dr and the third at 4pm at another Bunnings in Te Rapa, Hamilton.
The fourth sighting of Phillips was in Kawhia at 6.45pm, where he was involved in an altercation with a member of the public. Police believed he was driving a stolen Toyota Hilux captured on security footage.
The owner of the ute was involved in the altercation, pursuing Phillips while he was driving the vehicle and trying to run him off the road, Newshub reported.
Inspector Loughrin said police received a report and responded immediately to the Kawhia area but were unable to find the ute on Wednesday — even with the help of the police helicopter.
The brown utility 2003 Toyota Hilux that Tom Phillips was sited driving. Social media users posted an image of the ute online to alert the community. Photo / Supplied.
The owner discovered winter clothes and other items missing from their property that would be useful for a stay in the bush, Newshub reported.
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.
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.
On 2 August, police received reports of sightings of Tom Phillips at the Te Rapa Bunnings carpark. Photo: Supplied / Police
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.
They returned home after 17 days and in October, police charged Phillips with wasteful deployment of police resources.
