The Front Page: What do we know about missing Marokopa man Tom Phillips?

Tom Phillips and his three children, Jayda, Maverick and Ember, were reported missing from Marokopa by family on January 18, 2022.

The case of Tom Phillips and his three children has taken another strange turn in a saga that has dragged on for months.

What was initially a missing persons case has now been upgraded to a manhunt for a bank robber, who is alleged to have held up a bank in Te Kuiti.

Police have charged Phillips with aggravated robbery, aggravated wounding and unlawfully possessing a firearm over the armed heist of ANZ Te Kūiti on Rora St.

Phillips has been missing since 2021, and this also isn’t the first time he’s gone off the grid.

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.

This time Phillips has been missing for far longer, and police have expressed concern about the three children with the fugitive.

On this bonus episode of The Front Page, Newstalk ZB senior reporter Chelsea Daniels gives us a rundown on the long, strange history of Tom Phillips.

The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5am. It is presented by Damien Venuto, an Auckland-based journalist with a background in business reporting who joined the Herald in 2017.

You can follow the podcast at iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.