Search updated the escaped New Zealand dad, 3 children missing 3 years ago – Country
New Zealand police are renewing the search for a fugitive father who has run away with his three children since 2021.
Officials announced Wednesday that they will search in and around rural communities in New Zealand's Waikato area, where Tom Phillips and his children were eventually found, believed to be in a hiding area.
According to The Guardian, Phillips and his three children, Ember, are now considered nine-year-old Mavericks and 11-year-old Jayda, fled to a remote area that fled to Waikato before Christmas 2021. Phillips has no legal custody of the child and reportedly fought with the child's mother shortly before the children disappeared.
Ember, Jayda and Maverick can be seen in this undated photo.
Missing Marokopa Kids / Facebook
According to the media, this is not the first time Phillips is dragging with his kids. The four were reportedly lost in September 2021, resulting in a massive search operation, and then he reappeared on his parents’ farmhouse 19 days later. The Guardian reported that he told officers he took his children on a camping trip to “clear the head.”
Police accused him of wasting time and resources. But when he failed to appear in court in court several months later in connection with the allegations, a warrant was issued.
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New Zealand police said in a statement issued on Wednesday that the new search was “not prompted by any particular witness” but the ongoing investigation continued.
However, Phillips has seen many witnesses since Phillips disappeared.
Last October, the New Zealand Herald, a teenage pig hunter, reportedly captured the video of Phillips and his three children – believed to be the first witness of all three.
The video shows the quartets all wearing camouflage and carrying large camping backpacks on rugged farmland.
The mother of these children met them for the last time in 2021, telling the Herald that she was “relaxed” to know they were still alive.
“I'm glad they were there,” she said, and she immediately recognized each child. “I feel so relieved to see my three babies. They are all alive.”
Police said witnesses led to a three-day search, including the use of military helicopters, but “no further importance.”
Before that, in November 2023, police said they had caught Phillips and another man, believed to be one of the children, trying to steal the store by smashing windows.
One person thinks it is Tom Phillips and one of his children, who allegedly tried to break into a store in 2023.
New Zealand police
Police said the couple was covered up and ran away when the store’s alarm system began to surface late at night.
Phillips was also accused of robbing and shooting at a supermarket employee in May 2023.
As his list of allegations grew, he was still undetected, and many New Zealanders wondered why authorities have been struggling to track Phillips and his children.
“We absolutely believe that someone or someone is helping them,” Otorohanga mayor Max Baxter told reporters last October, including Marokopa, a rural community where his parents still live.
“Tom still has many supporters who think he is doing the right thing for him and his kids.”
According to CNN, Phillips' mother denied knowing her son's location in 2023 and said the family “just want Phillips and grandchildren to return to civilization.
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