Found Safe New Zealand - Tom Phillips, 34, shot/deceased; his 3 children who were with him found alive

[Ocalasunrise]

With them being gone this long and with the bank robbery (cant remember how much they got or even if they got anything at all) could it be possible that they are no longer in New Zealand and have now made there way to Australia?

I think it's really unlikely they've got to Australia. There are passport checks between there and NZ. Maybe he could evade it somehow but smuggling the three children with him would be so difficult.
Key is that he's been able to stay out there in that local area because of his family and the support mechanisms he has from those facilitating his actions. Very difficult to see how he'd hang out somewhere else without those.
So here we are, over three years on and what his plans are and the end game are still not clear. Does he seriously think he's going to keep his kids out there forever?!

 

[Ocalasunrise]

Police searching the area for the next three days. No specific intelligence to support why it's happening now and allegedly just part of the ongoing investigation.

Police launch new search for fugitive father and children missing in New Zealand wilderness for three years

Over the next few days police will be ‘present’ in the remote Marokopa area where Tom Phillips and his three children are believed to be hiding

www.theguardian.com

 

[Innana]

I know I am late to the conversation….but…

Curious how the police know that these “sightings” are in fact Tom or Tom and the kids. Except for the parking lot sighting where he was seen in the vechicle by someone who knew him, all the sightings could really be anyone. Very hard to tell by grainy photos of a person(s) in masks wearing hoods/hats.

Just my own late night thoughts..

 

[tarabull]

 

[StillDiggin]

Family's heartfelt note pleading for return of dad on run with his three kids

'Tom - I feel really sad that you thought you had to do this. Not considering how much we love you and can support you.'

metro.co.uk

 

[Ocalasunrise]

I know I am late to the conversation….but…

Curious how the police know that these “sightings” are in fact Tom or Tom and the kids. Except for the parking lot sighting where he was seen in the vechicle by someone who knew him, all the sightings could really be anyone. Very hard to tell by grainy photos of a person(s) in masks wearing hoods/hats.

Just my own late night thoughts..

Police appear to basing this on probability rather than certainty. Heights of the individuals, perceived gender of the smaller individual. Also, the rarity of events like these in rural NZ would limit potential suspects. Police also seem to know more about their movements at times than they are letting on but have chosen to let this play out to avoid risk to the children of some sort of 'rescue' operation.

 

[Dotta]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1960171127445082446

 

[Megnut]

https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/28/world/new-zealand-fugitive-father-new-cctv-intl-hnk

 

[Dotta]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1961328451736027162

 

[Justice101]

Those children have to be miserable living like that.

Hope they find him and they arrest him before he harms the children

 

[Megnut]

Those children have to be miserable living like that.

Hope they find him and they arrest him before he harms the children

Hope they find him and they arrest him before he harms the children further.

He needs to turn himself in yesterday.

JMO

 

[Ocalasunrise]

Interesting developments. Confirms that they're not out there in the bush living off the land. ATV's don't fuel themselves. They're not hiking around carrying an angle grinder 24/7. But their support system isn't strong enough to maintain them without resorting to crime to obtain supplies. Combined with the public appeal for the father to end this - which doesn't happen unless you have some certainty that you know it'll be somehow be heard - and hopefully this is into the end game.

 

[starlightstarbright]

It’s odd though that they can get support to find an ATV, fuelled up and ready to go, and tools, like an angle grinder, but not someone just dropping them a cache. I mean, maybe the ATV, etc is stolen and we don’t know that information. But surely just a car, with stolen or fake plates, would be less conspicuous in the middle of the night than a noisy out of place ATV. Are these little adventures into civilisation just to stick a finger up at LE?

 

[Snoopster]

It’s odd though that they can get support to find an ATV, fuelled up and ready to go, and tools, like an angle grinder, but not someone just dropping them a cache. I mean, maybe the ATV, etc is stolen and we don’t know that information. But surely just a car, with stolen or fake plates, would be less conspicuous in the middle of the night than a noisy out of place ATV. Are these little adventures into civilisation just to stick a finger up at LE?

I wonder if, like in the recent police ambush case in Australia, that people who are anti-government/authority are supporting him.

 

[Ocalasunrise]

I wonder if, like in the recent police ambush case in Australia, that people who are anti-government/authority are supporting him.

I think that's very likely the case. Even the prevailing mood amongst those locals who have been interviewed by the media has been that they don't support his actions but that they want the authorities to 'go away'.

 

[Ocalasunrise]

What we know about the suspected break-in by Marokopa fugitive Tom Phillips

Police say "people know where he is" as they release footage believed to be of the missing Marokopa dad and one of his children.

www.rnz.co.nz

Some interesting info. The store alarm went off and the only thing stolen was milk. A bigger haul might have given an indication of where they are at (e.g. food that needed heating in an oven or could be cooked over a camp fire).

 

[Snoopster]

What we know about the suspected break-in by Marokopa fugitive Tom Phillips

Police say "people know where he is" as they release footage believed to be of the missing Marokopa dad and one of his children.

www.rnz.co.nz

Some interesting info. The store alarm went off and the only thing stolen was milk. A bigger haul might have given an indication of where they are at (e.g. food that needed heating in an oven or could be cooked over a camp fire).

I just want those kids to be healthy and develop normal social skills so that they can fit in with society.
Of course I feel so badly for the mother of those children. How can she deal with this?

 

[Dotta]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1964793120517742826

 

[legalmomma]

https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/07/world/new-zealand-tom-phillips-police-hnk-intl

A fugitive father who had been hiding for years with his three children in the dense New Zealand wilderness is believed to have been shot dead during an armed confrontation with police responding to a break-in, police said Monday.

An officer was also wounded in the confrontation after being shot in the head, police said.

One of the children was with Phillips at the time and is in police custody. A massive search is now underway for the remaining children.
…
“The formal identification has yet to take place but we believe him to be Tom Phillips,” Acting Deputy Commissioner Jill Rogers told reporters on Monday.

 

[Megnut]

https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/07/world/new-zealand-tom-phillips-police-hnk-intl

A fugitive father who had been hiding for years with his three children in the dense New Zealand wilderness is believed to have been shot dead during an armed confrontation with police responding to a break-in, police said Monday.

An officer was also wounded in the confrontation after being shot in the head, police said.

One of the children was with Phillips at the time and is in police custody. A massive search is now underway for the remaining children.
…
“The formal identification has yet to take place but we believe him to be Tom Phillips,” Acting Deputy Commissioner Jill Rogers told reporters on Monday.

The other children are missing??????

Please let them be okay.