This dad is still on the run years after vanishing with his kids – as family speaks out

The family of a New Zealand dad who disappeared into the wilderness with his three children nearly four years ago have spoken publicly for the first time, pleading for him to come home.

Tom Phillips vanished in December 2021, taking his children Ember, now nine, Maverick, 10, and Jayda, 12, into the remote Waikato bush after an argument with their mum, Cat. 

Phillips did not have legal custody of the children, and police believe this was his main motive for going on the run. For years, he and the children have lived largely off the grid, with sightings rare.

Credit: NZ Police

Phillips’ family has never spoken out – until this week.

His sister Rozzi told New Zealand journalist Paddy Gower she hopes her public appearance would reach her brother, after other attempts to contact him had not worked.

“I hope that just maybe, maybe, he is going to see this and maybe he is going to get to see that he can come home and we are here for him and it might just be OK,” she said. “No day that goes by that I don’t think about all four of them.” 

Phillips’ mother also wrote a letter to her son and grandchildren, expressing her love and how much she hopes they will return home. Rozzi said she hopes her brother and the children are safe, but added she would be very angry with anyone helping him who had not updated the family on their wellbeing.

Credit: NZ Police

Most Read

Snoop Dogg branded ‘homophobic’ after weird comments about gay people, and people are angry

Grads from these Russell Group unis get the highest salaries in 2025 – Oxbridge aren’t top

Official calls to remove Snoop Dogg as event headliner following bizarre ‘homophobic’ rant

This was not the first time Phillips had taken his children into the bush. In September 2021, they disappeared for 19 days, prompting a major search after his truck was found abandoned along the Marokopa shoreline.

They eventually returned to his parents’ home, with Phillips saying he had taken them camping to “clear his head”. He was charged with wasting police resources. Less than three months later, Phillips and the children vanished again. When he failed to appear at a January 2022 court hearing, police issued a warrant for his arrest.

Credit: NZ Police

Since then, sightings have been rare. In May 2023, he took one child with him and allegedly committed a bank robbery in nearby Te Kūiti. Later that year, he was linked to an attempted grocery store robbery. In October 2024, footage emerged of an adult and three children walking across farmland near Marokopa, believed to be Phillips and the kids, but a search turned up nothing.

Credit: NZ Police

Phillips grew up in Marokopa, a tiny coastal settlement of fewer than 100 people surrounded by forested hills and farmland. How he and the children have survived undetected for so long remains a mystery. 

Some think he may be receiving help. Speaking to the Daily Mail, former police detective and crisis negotiator Lance Burdett said: “There’s information that he has a new partner who has been helping him – it’s unconfirmed but it makes sense.” 

Private investigator Chris Budge, a former military policeman, believes Phillips is likely staying in a house or outbuilding rather than living entirely in the bush.

Police continue to follow leads, but the trail has largely gone cold. With his family now publicly pleading for his return, there is hope that the New Zealand Phillips family disappearance might finally be solved.

Featured image credit: NZ Police