The Mystery of the Missing Phillips Children: A Comedy of Errors or Something More Serious?
(CNN) – In what can only be described as a real-life “Where’s Wally?” scenario, it appears there’s a man in camouflage, baffling our New Zealand police force. I mean, when you see someone dressed like they’re hunting for the last pack of toilet paper during a global pandemic, you have to think—what’s the first thought that crosses your mind? “I know that man! He’s trying to establish his own version of The Hunger Games!”
Meet Thomas Callam Phillips: father, fugitive, and apparently quite the outdoorsman. This fellow has been giving the New Zealand police quite a workout over the last three years since he decided to disappear into the wild with his children, Ember, Maverick, and Jayda. And let’s just say: “rugged surroundings” does not even begin to cover it! Think “Lord of the Flies” meets “Modern Family”!
Initially sought for court no-shows—with charges that could make any reasonable citizen smirk—our Phillips has now graduated to bank robberies and armed endeavors. Don’t you just love it when a simple family outing spirals into a blockbuster heist story?
As police escalate from searching garages to deploying helicopters, we learn from none other than a teenager out hunting that a film crew accidentally stumbled across what is possibly the first proof of life of these children since they disappeared two years ago. Talk about a plot twist! You know it’s serious when kids are mistaken for poachers. “Oi, mate! You’ve got toddlers dressed like ninjas!”
By the way, do these police officers not have Twitter for updates? Because everyone in New Zealand seems to have an opinion on Phillips’s extended escape plan. Former detectives are scratching their heads. And all across Marokopa, whispers of conspiracy abound! Is he getting help? Are people really that invested in his version of parenting? Apparently, yes. People are rallying behind a man who’s clearly doing the complete opposite of what you’d expect from a responsible dad!
Now, Phillips may or may not have been influenced by his desire to escape authorities, but it certainly seems like he’s managed to hoodwink not just the law, but also maybe some locals who sympathize with his prolonged camping trip — which, to be fair, sounds like the boldest “no-sleepover” party plan in history.
The Great Kiwi Scavenger Hunt
As the search continues, gathered wisdom surfaces: “It’s not that big of a country, right?” said an ex-policeman. “You’d think they’d find him hiding behind a bush or something!” In fact, just three kids and a man in a beard – so, quite literally, “Where’s Wally?” indeed!
This not-so-austere father figure is now flourishing into a full-blown fugitive with a resumé unfit for standard dad duties. Forget picnic baskets and lemonade stands, Phillips has starred in a multi-act show with a sprinkle of chaos, and audience opinions are mixed; there’s one side supporting a father’s love and another demanding justice like they’re at a football match.
Meanwhile, as townspeople speculate on how Phillips could keep this up for years, they wonder if he’s out there sheltering in some timeless sheep station. Why not, right? Everyone loves an unanswered question. Or maybe he’s got a roadmap for surviving without being tangible, a masterclass in parental elusiveness!
And let’s not forget, Phillips’s mother stepped in last year, claiming she and the family would love nothing more than to see the kids return home. Presumably, on the condition they aren’t bringing any “friendly” tipi-dwelling survivalists along with them.
A Dangerous Game
But things take a turn from what could be a light-hearted escapade into more serious territory. Amid the family’s campfire tales, Phillips has been linked to crimes. Reports of a bank robbery and vandalism have put an interesting spin on parent-child bonding. Is it “Just Dad Being Dad,” or has he sunk to levels questionable even by Netflix standards?
Ever notice how quickly your perspective shifts while watching someone throw bricks through windows or robbing cash registers when it involves kids? It’s like the world is a stage, but Phillips chose improv instead of the script! I mean, seriously! You can’t make this stuff up—unless you’re making a very serious Instagram post about parental guidance gone wrong.
As the authorities stress that pheromones of desperation waft through the air like stale popcorn at a bad movie, they’re left pondering how a dad and three kids remain undetected in New Zealand’s rugged terrain. This isn’t just survival of the fittest; it’s survival of the wittiest!
So here we are, glued to our screens, waiting, watching for the climax that doesn’t seem to arrive. Will he be caught like a dog playing fetch? Will he be running through the forest, dodging police and Netflix subscriptions? You’ve got to love a real-life story that could make you weep, laugh, and cringe all at once. So, stay tuned – we could be in for quite a wild ride!
(CNN) – The man was wearing camouflage clothing, with a long beard protruding from under a mask. His features were hidden, but when New Zealand police saw the video showing three figures walking behind him, one name instantly came to mind.
Fugitive Thomas Callam Phillips has been evading police for three years since he disappeared with his children Ember, Maverick and Jayda, now aged 8, 9 and 11, in the rugged surroundings of the country’s North Island amid a difficult family separation in December 2021.
Phillips was initially wanted for failing to appear in court on charges of wasting police resources. However, three years later, his list of charges has expanded and become more serious, with allegations that he robbed a bank in May 2023 with an unidentified accomplice.
Police have mobilized search teams, helicopters and planes to investigate sporadic sightings, but have been unable to find them.
Last week’s sighting is believed to be the first of the three children since 2021.
It was made by a teenager, who did not want to be named or interviewed for this story, but his grandfather John McOviney told CNN that the boy had been hunting with a friend on the family’s 8,500-acre (3,439-hectare) property in Marokopa, when they saw four figures carrying backpacks, and assumed they were poachers.
“The guy had a big, long beard, and the kids were all masked. They were carrying backpacks, and they weren’t very interested in talking at all,” McOviney said.
Their grandson filmed them on his phone, providing what is assumed to be the first proof of life of the missing Phillips children that their mother Cat has seen since they left.
The whole country wants to know where they are and why it is taking the police so long to find them.
“We’re not talking about a big country,” said Lance Burdett, a former detective inspector and senior crisis negotiator for the New Zealand Police. “It is very surprising that they have not been found, especially given that the number of sightings is in a very similar area.”
Max Baxter, mayor of the Otorohanga district that includes Marokopa, a rural community with fewer than 100 people, says authorities believe Phillips is receiving help.
“We absolutely believe that someone, or some people, are helping them,” Baxter said. “Tom still has a number of followers who believe he is doing the right thing for him and his children.”
The North Island of New Zealand is home to a wild and stunning landscape that formed part of the backdrop for director Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” trilogies.
Steep hills with panoramic views descend into deep valleys, dotted with caves covered in a blanket of dense forest. Marokopa is the kind of place where it’s easy to get lost, and even easier to hide.
“There is a reason why people live in Marokopa,” Baxter said. “It’s because they love isolation. “They love the fact that they’re on the rugged west coast, that they can go fishing, that they can hang out with like-minded people.”
Phillips grew up in the area and his parents still live there in the family home. In a statement provided to TVNZ last year, his mother denied knowledge of his son’s whereabouts and said the family “would like nothing more” than the return of the four.
This isn’t the first time Phillips has disappeared with Ember, Maverick, and Jayda. In September 2021, his car was reported abandoned on a beach, prompting a major police search by land and sea.
For three weeks, a police helicopter and drones combed the coast, while rescue teams searched on land, but just as the operation was ending, with fears the family had been lost at sea, they suddenly reappeared.
Phillips reportedly told police that he and the children had been camping in the bush. He was later charged with wasting police resources and given a court date.
But before that day came, he disappeared again with the three children. Some assumed that he had “gone into the bush” again and would later reappear, but this time they have not returned home.
Ember, Maverick, and Jayda were only 5, 7, and 8 years old when they disappeared. For more than two years, their mother kept a low profile, issuing written statements through the police, asking for help to find them.
But this June, he showed up at a emotional video posted on Facebook.
“Hello world,” he said. “My name is Cat. I’m here today, begging for your help in bringing my babies home.”
The oldest daughter, Jayda, had just turned 11 years old. “She will be a young woman now and she needs her mother,” said Cat, who has not publicly revealed her last name. “Ember is asthmatic, like me, she needs medical care that cannot be provided from the field.”
“I can only imagine how Maverick is coping,” he added.
At the time the video was released, police had just offered a US$48,000 (NZ$80,000) reward for information leading to the children. Reports of sightings emerged, but no progress.
The boys’ older sister, Jubilee Dawson, made a separate appeal in an interview last year, sharing memories of her siblings.
“Jayda is the most outgoing, she is definitely the most confident of the three, she loves talking to everyone,” Dawson said in a Mata Reports documentary. “Maverick is more introverted, I would say he is more shy. Ember is the youngest, and sweetest and most cheerful.”
Dawson fears the children may now be “traumatized and scared” and worries they don’t know their family is looking for them.
“We love them so much, and we are just waiting for them to come home,” she said.
CNN reached out to Cat and Dawson but did not receive a response.
Authorities are concerned that Phillips is not only hiding the children, but also encouraging them to engage in criminal acts.
In May 2023, two masked people robbed an ANZ bank branch, escaping on a motorcycle with cash. New Zealand police later named Phillips as the suspect and said he was assisted by a female accomplice. Both were said to be armed.
A witness told local media that the accomplice was small, “even shorter than me.”
Phillips is now wanted for aggravated robbery, aggravated battery and unlawful possession of a firearm.
Burdett, the former detective inspector, said that if Phillips carried out the bank robbery, it suggested the fugitive father was desperate for money.
“They have to be surviving on something. You need money. “You can’t live that long on the land, and especially not with three little kids,” Burdett said. “They are going to grow in three years.”
In November 2023, Phillips and an unidentified boy are also alleged to have smashed a store window at 2am, before fleeing on a stolen ATV. Phillips has also been seen on security cameras, with his face covered, buying supplies at a hardware store.
“We know that Tom has been seen in commercial locations throughout the Waikato region disguised in various masks,” police said in a statement.
Burdett said police need more resources to search the area and suggested a general call could help increase the number of people on the ground.
“Let’s go in and saturate the area. I’m sure if you asked many locals, can you spend a day or two walking around these hills, many people would. Not just the locals,” he said.
However, Mayor Baxter suggests that venturing into the dense forest around Marokopa is not a good idea for those not used to the terrain.
“For an inexperienced person there, you could find yourself two meters off the path and you may not find your way again,” he said. “We are talking about very, very deep forest and rugged countryside.”
New Zealand police declined CNN’s request for an interview, pointing to the dozens of news updates they have published over the years related to the case.
His most recent statement says the “credible” sighting of Phillips and the children on Oct. 3 sparked a three-day search, but “nothing of significance was found.”
“Police continue to urge those in the Marokopa community to remain alert and report any suspicious activity to us, no matter how minor,” the statement added.
Mayor Baxter said the search had divided opinion in the community between those who believe Phillips should hand over the children and others who defend his rights as a father.
Many just want the entire police operation to stop, he said.
Baxter said he finds it hard to believe the children have been living in difficult conditions for three years in an area frequently battered by wind and rain, where winter temperatures dip below freezing. That’s why he believes Phillips and the children should be getting help.
“We all know this, but it gets very uncomfortable when it rains day after day after day,” he said.
“I think there must be shearers’ accommodation, another house somewhere, a wool shed where they have taken shelter for extended periods of time, and been given supplies,” he said.
McOviney, whose grandson took the most recent images, put forward a similar theory, noting that wool sheds and houses are dotted around the sparsely populated area, used by workers tending livestock grazing in the hills.
“I think they have help. I don’t know for sure, but to keep little kids like that isolated from family and everyone else, you’d think they’d need some help, right?”
In her video message, Cat hinted that there is resistance in the community toward the search from people who don’t believe their children need rescuing.
“Many of you say that the children are fine, that they are being well cared for. “How do they know, have they seen them, or are they just rumors?” he said.
“What Thomas is doing is not right. It is not okay to isolate and control. It’s child neglect. “It is putting children in danger, none of this is okay,” the mother added.
