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RNZ
Tom Phillips and his three children have been missing for a year-and-a half, and despite a significant hunt for the four police admit ‘this has not led us to Tom, Ember, Maverick or Jayda’.
Police are not ruling out the possibility that Tom Phillips and his three children have fled abroad.
Yet there are two other on-shore explanations for the Marokopa father and his three children Maverick, Jayda Jin and Ember vanishing into thin air almost a year-and-a-half ago – outside help or a disappearing act years in the making.
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The whereabouts of Phillips and his three children remains a mystery since the children were last seen in December 2021.
A warrant to arrest Phillips was issued when he failed to appear in Te Kūiti District Court in January last year on a charge of wasting police time and resources in relation to the family’s first disappearance back in September 2021.
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A search for Phillips and his children has been going on ever since, captivating the nation and frustrating police and searchers.
Police have said the missing family could be anywhere in the country, and might be using fake names.
According to NZ Private Investigators director Nick Mayer, the foursome could have left the country.
“Is it possible? Yes, you can get fake passports but it’s a lot harder these days, but could they have got on a boat? Yes.”
Mayer cited the case of infamous Kiwi conman Wayne Eaglesome, who recently popped up again in Turkey and Bangkok in May last year claiming to be a German national with $90m in bitcoin.
In April 2021, he was charged with breaching his release conditions after it was revealed he tried to rent a luxury apartment and promised to fill it with wealthy clients for $500 a night.
He twice failed to appear in court on those charges before fleeing the country.
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Stu Gilbert, SOS Survival Training leader, said it would be possible to live in the bush with three children – but you’d need either outside help, or to have planned far in advance of disappearing.
Mayer also referenced another infamous escapee, convicted killer and child abuser Philip John Smith, who fled to Brazil while he was on a temporary prison release.
In 2014, Smith managed to catch a flight to Chile a few hours after leaving Waikato’s Spring Hill Corrections Facility on a temporary release, relocating to Brazil before he was recognised and eventually deported back to New Zealand.
”Yes, people can get out of the country,” Mayer said.
According to former Royal New Zealand Air Force instructor and SOS Survival Training lead Stu Gilbert, it’s also possible Phillips is still surviving somewhere in the wild.
Gilbert said he believed there were two likely scenarios.
“He’s either getting outside support or he’s planned this for a long time,” he said.
“That wouldn’t have been off the cuff, he would have an area in mind.
”If the seed [to disappear] was planted years ago he would escape to this little retreat he’d established.”
Gilbert said it would be extremely hard to live in the bush with three young children, but possible if enough forward planning had been undertaken.
”First thing I’d be doing is location selection,” he said.
Tom Lee/Stuff
Waikato West Area Commander, Inspector Will Loughrin said he believed Phillips was being assisted to enable him and his children to continue to evade police.
“Reliable food, not only through the summer months, a reliable water source, resources to build, whether that be a log cabin.”
He also said you’d need to find a location “well off the beaten track”.
He also said an axe, appropriate clothing and even solar panels could be utilised to live in the bush.
“It’s definitely possible, but with three kids. . . you’ve got to meet the needs of life.”
Inspector Will Loughrin, Waikato Western area commander and the officer in charge of locating Phillips, said “every scenario has been considered”.
When asked whether they could have fled abroad, he said police had “no information that has occurred”.
Police would not comment on whether they had been in contact with offshore agencies such as Interpol in connection with the case.
“We believe that Tom is being supported by a person or people, and this is allowing him to continue to exist without any electronic trace,” he said.
“For operational reasons we can’t comment on all the enquiries we have underway but we can say a significant amount of work has gone into this investigation, but unfortunately, this has not led us to Tom, Ember, Maverick or Jayda.”
Anyone who can assist should contact Police via 105 and quote file number 211218/5611.
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