She continued: “What Thomas is doing is not okay. It is not okay to divide and conquer, it is not okay to isolate and control. It is child neglect, it is child endangerment, it is child abandonment, it is child abuse.
“None of this is okay. My babies deserve better. I am just a mother standing here in front of the world begging you here to help me bring my babies home.
“Please, if anybody has any information at all, call the police.”
She said today was her daughter Jayda’s 11th birthday.
“She will be a young woman now and will need her mother.
“Ember is asthmatic, as am I. She needs medical care that cannot be provided from the land and I can only imagine how Maverick is coping with the hand that life has dealt him.
“Many of you say the children are fine, that they’re being well looked after. How do you know? Have you seen them or is it just bush talk?”
The Phillips siblings (left to right): Ember, Jayda and Maverick and (inset, right) their mother, Cat. The three children and their father, Tom Phillips, have been missing since December 2021.
In a statement, police said they had received more than 100 new tip-offs since making a renewed effort last week to find the family.
Forty of these tip-offs were considered “worthy” and were being investigated further, acting Detective Inspector Andrew Saunders said.
”We cannot provide details while the investigation is ongoing but we are committed to getting a result as soon as possible.
”While Marokopa continues to be a focus for the ongoing investigation, inquiries are being carried out in surrounding areas including Honikiwi and Ōtorohanga and we’re appealing for anyone who has observed suspicious behaviour in these areas in recent months to please contact police.
”Our message hasn’t changed: we continue to urge anyone with credible, current information that will lead to the location and safe return of Ember, Maverick and Jayda to do the right thing and tell police what you know.”
Police offer $80,000 reward for information leading to children’s safe return
Phillips first disappeared with the children on September 11, 2021. Emergency services began searching for them after his car was found abandoned on a beach. Phillips turned up almost three weeks later, on September 30.
Police charged him with wasteful deployment of police resources but he 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.
Clockwise from top left: Tom Phillips and children Jayda, Ember and Maverick. Photo / New Zealand Police
Phillips’ eldest daughter has her 11th birthday today. Jayda was 8 when the family went missing, her brother Maverick was 7 and her younger sister Ember was 5.
Locals in Ōtorohanga, more than an hour’s drive from Marokopa, talked to the Herald about their concerns for the children.
Tim Dimsdale, who used to work on the Phillips family farm, said: “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 at the Anglican church, the Rev Joseph Pene said he had one foot ready to go should he encounter Phillips.
