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After nearly four years evading authorities with his children Ember, 9, Maverick, 10, and Jayda, 12, fugitive Tom Phillips met a tragic end during a confrontation with police on Monday.
He was fatally shot in a roadside incident near Piopio, a rural town in New Zealand’s Waikato region, after police stopped him and Jayda on a quad bike following a robbery at a farm supply store.
When officers deployed road spikes, Phillips opened fire at close range, shooting one officer in the head and leaving him with critical injuries.
Backup returned fire, killing him instantly – all in front of his daughter Jayda.
Hours later, with Jayda’s help, police tracked down a hidden bush campsite where Maverick and Ember were found alive.
September 2021 – the first disappearance
On September 11, 2021, 34-year-old Tom Phillips disappeared from his farm in Marokopa, a tiny coastal town with a population of just 69, along with his three children.
Later that day, authorities discovered his truck abandoned on a nearby beach. Initially, there were fears they might have drifted out to sea, prompting an investigation.
Tom Phillips first fled with his children Jayda, then 8, Maverick, 6, and Ember, 5, in September 2021. The incident prompted a police appeal at that time.
Concerns heightened when Phillips’ truck was found deserted on a beach. The family returned after 17 days but disappeared again three months later.
For 17 days, helicopters, ground crews, and even the Navy scoured the coastline.
Then Phillips and the children returned home unharmed.
He told police they had been camping in the bush to ‘clear his head.’
Phillips was later charged with causing the wasteful deployment of police resources over the incident.
Police have since suggested the initial disappearance may have been a ‘warm-up’ to the second, more prolonged disappearance later in 2021 — to see how long he could last out there.
December 2021 – the second disappearance
On December 20, 2021, Tom Phillips disappeared again with his three children, but unlike the first time, they did not return.
He was scheduled to appear in court on the charge of wasting police resources from the September incident but failed to show. A warrant was issued for his arrest.
‘Missing’ posters were seen in some shop windows in the region (pictured)
By this time, Phillips no longer had legal custody of the children, and police believe the second disappearance was connected to an ongoing custody dispute with their mother, Cat.
2022-2024 – on the run
From 2022 to 2025, Tom Phillips evaded what became one of New Zealand’s most high-profile manhunts.
For years, he and his three children lived off the grid in the remote Waikato bush.
In May 2023, Phillips allegedly robbed a Te Kūiti bank with a shotgun.
Four months later, in August, he was captured on CCTV at a Hamilton Bunnings store, disguised and driving a stolen ute.
CCTV captured Phillips with his head and face completely covered by a beanie, reading glasses and a mask.
He paid cash for head torches, batteries, seedlings, buckets and gumboots. The children were not with him.
In August 2023, Tom Phillips was captured on CCTV at a Bunnings store in Hamilton, disguised from head to toe
Tom Phillips and his children were captured on CCTV multiple times in 2023
The most credible sighting was in bushland west of Marokopa in October 2024, when the Phillips family were spotted walking through farmland in single file by a pair of pig hunters, who filmed the encounter
In October 2024, pig hunters in dense bush near Marokopa encountered Phillips and the children.
They later handed police photos showing Phillips armed with a rifle, while the children carried heavy packs, apparently living rough.
These images were the first clear evidence in years that all three children were still alive and with their father.
Despite a reward of $80,000, Phillips was never caught.
Investigators always believed he and the children had remained close to Marokopa, the tiny settlement where he grew up.
Given the length of time they survived, through harsh winters and rugged terrain, police now believe he must have received outside assistance.
2025
Reports of sightings increased. One motorist claimed to have seen a man in camouflage walking with three children along State Highway 4 in February. Police later said the lead was not Phillips or the children.
In August, CCTV captured Phillips and one of his children breaking into a rural store in Piopio using an angle grinder.
They fled the scene on a quad bike, confirming once again that the children were still with him.
A few hours before dawn on September 8, Phillips and his daughter Jayda carried out another burglary at a farm supply store in Piopio.
Police recently released CCTV of Phillips and one of his children using an angle grinder to steal items from a general store in Piopio last month
The rural road where Tom Phillips’ life ended remained a crime scene on Tuesday
Police intercepted them using road spikes. When confronted, Phillips opened fire at close range, shooting a police officer in the head.
Back-up officers returned fire, killing him at the roadside – all in front of Jayda.
Hours later, Jayda provided information that led police to a hidden bush campsite 2km away, where Maverick and Ember were found alive.
Police photographs of the site showed soft drink cans, tyres, a metal container and camouflaged belongings scattered through the undergrowth. Officers also recovered firearms.
What is next for the Phillips children?
Jayda, Maverick and Ember (all pictured) are settling well in the care of authorities after spending almost four years in the wilderness
Pictured is the remote campsite where Maverick and Ember located on Monday afternoon, 2km from where their father Tom Phillips was shot dead by police 12 hours earlier
Police photographs of the site showed soft drink cans, tyres, a metal container and camouflaged belongings scattered through the undergrowth
Now the children are in the care of police and the New Zealand government’s welfare agency, with police saying they are settled, comfortable and together.
Government spokesperson Warwick Morehu said a plan had been worked on for four years to reintegrate the children.
