How fugitive New Zealand father, killed in shootout, lived with 3 kids in wild for years

A New Zealand man who disappeared into the country’s wilderness with his three children nearly four years ago has been shot dead by the police. Tom Phillips was killed in a shootout after he was suspected of robbing a rural farm supply store.

The disappearance of the man, along with his children — Jayda, Maverick, and Ember — had fascinated New Zealand. He had been evading police since December 2021.

But how? We will explain.

Tom Phillips goes into hiding with 3 kids

It all began in September 2021 when Phillips’ Toyota Hilux was found abandoned at a beach south of Marokopa, a tiny coastal settlement on New Zealand ’s North Island.

The police looked for the man and his three kids for 18 days but found no trace, as per a Radio New Zealand (RNZ) report. The search was later called off.

Phillips, who was said to be an experienced hunter and bushman, eventually showed up at his parents’ farm in Marakopa, along with the kids. He claimed he had taken the kids on an extended camping trip in dense bush to clear his head.

He was charged with wasting police resources, with a court date set for January 2022.

Phillips never made the court appearance. In fact, in December, he vanished with his children from the family farm again. This time, they did not return.

Police did not immediately launch a search operation as Phillips had told his family he was going on another trip with the children.

After failing to find them, less than a year later, authorities said Phillips and the children could have moved somewhere else in New Zealand and changed their names.

Why did Phillips vanish with his kids?

Before their disappearance, Phillips and his children used to live in Ōtorohanga in the Waikato region of the North Island.

They spent a lot of time in Marokopa, at the farm owned by Phillips’ parents, BBC reported, citing New Zealand media.

In 2021, Philipps’ former neighbours described him as “smart”, “lovely” and “a jack of all trades”, as per local media Stuff.

Before they went into hiding, the man had separated from his wife, identified as Cat, and did not have legal custody of his children.

A custody dispute in the Family Court was going on and Phillips was homeschooling the kids at the family farm, reported public broadcaster RNZ.

Cat told the media that the first time Philipps disappeared was “a decoy” and not a mistake. She informed police that he would be in the bush and took the children with him to hurt her.

“He’s trying to teach me a lesson,” Cat said. “He doesn’t care for them, they’re just pawns in this game.”

Phillips and the children sighted

After Phillips went off the grid, he is believed to have been sighted several times.

A masked man was seen shopping at Hamilton Bunnings in 2023. He took at least one child out of the bush in May of that year, when Phillips allegedly committed an armed bank robbery in nearby Te Kūiti.

In November that year, he allegedly tried to rob a small grocery store.

Last month, Phillips was captured on CCTV allegedly robbing a grocery store at night, accompanied by one of his children.

As per RNZ, pig hunters came across the family in the hills south of Marokopa. The kids were dressed in camouflage, carrying large packs and walking behind their father.

What captivated New Zealand was how Phillips managed to stay off the radar for nearly four years. Investigators combed the densely forested area where they suspected the family was hiding. The man is not believed to have travelled far from Marokopa.

Last June, police announced a reward of NZ$80,000 (approximately Rs 42 lakh) for information on the family.

Police said Phillips was well aware of the remote, rugged terrain and they suspected he was being helped by others.

In November 2024, Phillips’ parents, Neville and Julia Phillips, dismissed rumours that they were aiding their son, but also urged police to leave him alone.

Earlier this year, Julia pleaded with her son: “Tom - I feel really sad that you thought you had to do this. It hurts every time I see photos of the children and of you… Thinking what could have been if you had not gone away.”

To her grandchildren, she wrote: “Love you so much and really miss being part of your lives. Every day I wake up and hope that today will be the day that you will come home.”

Phillips and one kid finally found

Tom Phillips, in his late 30s, was shot dead by the police after an armed confrontation.

On Monday (September 8), police were called to a commercial property at 2.30 am after reports of a burglary at a rural farm supply store in Piopio in the Waikato district.

“Information came to police that described two people on a quad bike, dressed in farm clothing and wearing headlamps,” Deputy Police Commissioner Jill Rogers said at a press conference, as per The Guardian.

Police laid spikes at an intersection, which the vehicle ran over, she said.

As the quad bike came to a halt, a police officer at the scene was “confronted by gunfire at close range”.

“Our officer has been struck in the head … soon after a second patrol unit arrived and engaged the offender,” she said, adding that the man died at the scene.

“The formal identification of this male is yet to take place, but we believe him to be Tom Phillips.”

Rogers said one child was at the scene during the shootout with Phillips. She said the child was taken into custody and was getting support.

Two of the children, a boy and a girl, remain missing and police were actively looking for them, she added.

Ember is now nine, Maverick, 10, and Jayda, 12. As per Daily Mail, Jayda was taken into custody.

Rogers said finding them was the “number one priority” for police.

The children continued to be missing as temperatures are predicted to fall near freezing point later in the day.

Authorities, family react to Phillips’ death

Cat, the mother of the missing children, said the news of her estranged husband’s death has brought a “wave of complex emotions”.

“First and foremost, we are deeply relieved that for our tamariki this ordeal has come to an end. [The children] have been dearly missed every day for nearly four years, and we are looking forward to welcoming them home with love and care,” she told Mata.

“At the same time, we are saddened by how events unfolded today. Our hope has always been that the children could be returned in a peaceful and safe way for everyone involved.”

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Chris Luxon said he is “very concerned” about the two children still missing.

“The whole country is anxiously waiting to hear that the missing children have been found,” he said in a weekly briefing on Monday.

“I doubt there is a New Zealander who has not followed, to some extent, the story of the abduction of the children, of whom there had only been intermittent sightings since 2021.”

Luxon said his thoughts are with the police officer who was seriously injured during the shootout. “It is a sad and absolutely tragic event. This is not what anybody wanted to happen today. I think that is a consistent feeling from everybody across New Zealand,” Luxon said.

Philipps’ sister, Rozzi Phillips, confirmed to RNZ that he had been killed.

“This has been a deeply traumatic incident this morning for those involved. It has been confronting and challenging in a small, rural, isolated location,” Deputy Commissioner Rogers said.

With inputs from agencies