The family of a fugitive dad who has been on the run with his three young children for almost four years has publicly broken their silence for the first time to urge him to come home.
Tom Phillips vanished from the rural town of Marokopa on New Zealand’s North Island in December 2021 with Jayda, now 12, Maverick, 10, and Ember, 9.
They are believed to have lived in the wilderness ever since, despite numerous police search operations and a $80,000 reward.
There have been several possible sightings in the last year – most recently in February, when four people dressed in camouflage clothing were spotted sitting near State Highway 4, south of Te Kūiti.
It came after a ‘credible’ sighting in bushland west of Marokopa last October. Phillips and the children were believed to have been spotted walking through farmland in single file by a pair of pig hunters, who filmed the encounter.
While the children’s mother, Cat, has made countless public pleas, Phillips’ family has never spoken out – until now.
His mother Julia has penned an emotional open letter to her missing son and grandchildren, which was read out by her daughter Rozzi in an emotional interview with Stuff journalist Paddy Gowers on his weekly current affairs program on Tuesday.
Julia penned the letter clinging to the hope that her son would see it.
‘Tom – I feel really sad that you thought you had to do this,’ the letter began.
‘Not considering how much we love you and can support you.
‘It hurts every time I see photos of the children and of you and see some of your stuff that is still here. Thinking what could have been if you had not gone away.
‘Jayda, Maverick, Ember – I 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.’
His sister Rozzi also publicly pleaded for her brother to come out of hiding and assured him that the family will be there for him.
‘Maybe he’s going to see this, and maybe he’s going to get to see that he can come home, and that we are here for him, and it might just be okay,’ she told Gowers.
‘There’s a lot of love and there’s a lot of support, and we’re ready to help you walk through what you need to walk through.
‘I miss you, and I miss being part of your life, and I really want to see you and the kids and be part of your lives again.
‘You’re very special to me. You’re my friend, as well as my brother, and I love you, and it’s okay.’
The doting aunt also had a special message for her nieces and nephews.
‘You’re important to me and our wider family and I’d love to see you again and be part of your lives again – and know for myself that all is truly well in your world,’ Rozzi said.
She believes that her brother would be taking good care of his children, despite living in the wilderness.
Rozzi described her brother as an experienced bushman who learned outdoor survival skills at boarding school.
She added the children often went hunting with their father.
‘I don’t believe that he would have the children suffering,’ Rozzi said.
Phillips first vanished with his three children on September 11, 2021, before returning to the family farm three weeks later, saying they had spent the time living in a tent in dense bushland.
Three months later, a warrant for his arrest was issued after he failed to appear before court.
The children’s mother believes Phillips is being helped by a group of supporters around New Zealand.
Last October, she claimed that she saw Phillips at a Bunnings as she walked past a ute in the carpark.
Cat claimed the ute belonged to an associate of Phillips and was only reported stolen after she saw him.
Police alleged Phillips was also seen on November 2, 2023, on CCTV after an attempted burglary.
Security footage showed a masked pair, believed to be Phillips and one of his children, smashing the front glass of a shop then running after the alarm was set off.
He is also accused of robbing a bank and shooting at a supermarket worker in Te Kūiti in May 2023.
Police believe his main motive for taking the kids into the bush was the fact he no longer had legal custody.
Custody now sits with Oranga Tamariki, a government department in New Zealand responsible for the wellbeing of children, which has already made arrangements for when the children are finally located.
‘That’s effectively why we believe he has taken the children, over custody,’ Acting Detective Inspector Andrew Saunders previously told reporters.
He added that police believed it was possible Phillips used his first disappearance as a preparation for his next.
‘Yes, it certainly goes into our thinking that that could have been a warm-up to what he has done now,’ he said.