A group of pig hunters has discovered a missing man and abducted children trudging through the New Zealand wilderness, armed with guns and camouflaged, according to reports.
Tom Phillips disappeared in 2021 along with his three children, Ember (8), Maverick (9), and Jada (11), and since then it has not been revealed whether they were alive or dead. No one knew what happened.
The mother, Kat, who was worried about her children and had custody of them, was overcome with emotion after seeing cell videos of the long-lost children made by hunters in the Marokopa region of the Pacific country. .
Tom Phillips fled into the wilderness with his children in 2021 New Zealand Police
“I’m so happy that everyone came,” she told the newspaper. “I was so relieved to see the three babies. They are all alive.”
John McCovinney said the two hunters who encountered the family near the farm last Thursday and began filming were his 16-year-old grandsons.
The three masked children asked from a distance, “Does anyone know they’re there?” before marching through the bushes after their father.
"They were all loaded up, carrying big bags,” McCovney told the New Zealand Herald, which obtained the video.
“I think their father kept them going,” he added.
After seeing Phillips’ gun, the hunters decided not to interact further and called New Zealand authorities. Officials said two helicopters searched the area over the weekend, but none of the four were found.
The family was spotted walking in the New Zealand wilderness on Thursday. 1News Children have been missing for nearly three years. Facebook / Missing Marokopa Children
Police have confirmed that the witness information is “reliable” and are taking a “positive approach to the investigation” despite not being able to find the suspect.
“This is the first time that all three children have been seen. This is positive information and we know it will be reassuring to the children’s wider families,” police said in a statement.
Phillips and her children fled into the wilderness nearly three years ago after an argument with their mother.
Witnesses said the family was wearing camouflage clothing and carrying heavy luggage. Provided by John McCovney
He has no legal custody of the children, and authorities believe they have had little outside contact since their disappearance.
The father was last seen in November stealing a quad bike from a rural property and breaking into a shop in Piopio with one of his children, the Herald said.
In August 2023, he disguised himself with glasses and a face mask, visited two stores to purchase essentials such as a headlamp, batteries, seedlings, buckets, and rubber boots, and may have set up a campsite. suggested that.
The children’s mother begs the father to take them home. Facebook / Missing Marokopa Children
A few months earlier, in May 2023, Phillips robbed a bank in Te Kuiti and shot and killed a supermarket worker. Police issued a warrant for his arrest, charging him with aggravated robbery, aggravated assault and unlawful possession of a firearm, the paper said.
In a video message earlier this year, Catt begged Phillips to take her children back to her.
“I stand here before you today and ask for your help in bringing my baby home,” she said.
The children asked the hunters if anyone knew they were there. Facebook / Missing Marokopa Children
“They’re just innocent children and they don’t deserve to be treated this way. They don’t deserve the life they’re being given.”
She then shared a letter that Phillips allegedly sent her less than a year after he and the children disappeared. Mr Phillips said he had a “good heart” and asked for her forgiveness, according to The Independent.
“I don’t want to be with anyone else, I want to be with you, Katherine, the woman I have loved for over seven years,” Phillips wrote. I can’t ask you to forgive me. Only you can make that choice, and I know you don’t have to.
“I know that if I give up on making things right, I will regret it forever,” he continued. “I’m sorry for everything I’ve ever said or done to hurt you. I’ve spent the last nine months knowing that I should have handled things better and that I failed. I suffered every day.”
New Zealand authorities have offered a $48,000 reward for information leading to Phillips’ arrest.
Officials warned the public that he was armed and dangerous and asked them not to approach him if they saw him.
