• The detective spearheading the search for Tom Phillips and his three children has revealed what he believes Phillips’ motive is.
• Phillips sparked a search operation after disappearing with his children on September 11, 2021, and went on the run again on December 9.
• The Herald spoke with the lead detective inspector on the case for its mini-documentary, Marokopa manhunt: The pursuit of fugitive Tom Phillips and his kids.

Police believe Tom Phillips’ main motive for taking his children is the fact he no longer has legal custody.

“That’s effectively why we believe he has taken the children, over custody,” Acting Detective Inspector Andrew Saunders told the Herald in Marokopa manhunt: The pursuit of fugitive Tom Phillips and his kids, a mini-documentary about the case.

Phillips sparked an extensive search and rescue operation when he vanished for the first time with his three young children Jayda, Maverick and Ember Phillips, on September 11, 2021.

During the first disappearance, Saunders said police did not consider custody was the likely motive.

“When Tom went missing, he had lawful custody of the children.”

Saunders said police now believe it’s possible Phillips used his first disappearance as a preparation for his next.

“Yes, it certainly that goes into our thinking that that could have been a warm-up to what he has done now.”

Phillips was charged with wasteful deployment of police resources but failed to turn up to his court appearance and once again, disappeared into the bush with his three children.

“Once he failed to appear in court on what he had been charged with, and that’s obviously after the current disappearance ... a warrant to arrest was issued.”

Saunders revealed Phillips no longer has custody of the children. Custody now sits with Oranga Tamariki and they have made arrangements for when the children are located as to where they will go.

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He recognised there were a lot of rumours about the family’s disappearance, but dispelled them.

“We believe it’s over custody, I know there’s been various opinions out there, including the fact that it may be Covid-related.

“From our point of view, this is straight up about custody of the children.”

The Herald cannot report further details about the custody of the Phillips children.

Marokopa locals recently made headlines for refusing to believe Phillips was involved in the robbery at ANZ Te Kūiti.

Police confirmed to the Herald that Phillips currently has four charges against him.

After the armed bank heist, Phillips was charged with aggravated robbery, aggravated wounding and unlawfully possessing a firearm.

“I’ve seen a lot of opinions where people just don’t believe he’s committed any offences and he’s doing what’s best for his children.

“But we’ve said all along these aren’t the actions of a good father,” Saunders said.

Police also believe someone is helping Phillips stay off the grid and evade authorities.

“We haven’t hid the fact we believe he’s been getting assistance since he’s been on the run with those children.

“I can’t tell you who those people are ... we know there’s people [who are] close associates to Tom, that haven’t been co-operative with the investigation.”

‘I said to the police, it’s a decoy.’

The mother of the three missing Marokopa children, Cat, told the Herald she knew the first disappearance wasn’t a tragic accident.

“I was not notified for a couple of days after the children first disappeared when Thomas’ truck was parked in the water.

“But straight away, I said to the police, it’s a decoy,” Cat said.

Cat, mother of Jayda, Maverick and Ember Phillips. Photo / Michael Craig

She claims she told police to look in the bush for the family, but was rebuffed.

“They wouldn’t listen to me because the vehicle was parked on the beach and they have their procedures and the procedure was, this is the search area which is around the vehicle.”

When Phillips returned with the children he claimed that he had taken them on a camping trip in dense bush to “clear his head”.

“Why did he have to take the kids to clear his head?

“He could have just left them and he didn’t tell anybody [where he went] and he deliberately planted that vehicle on the beach to make it look a certain way.

“That was intentional,” Cat said.

The family returned home three weeks later, but on December 9 an arrest warrant was issued for Phillips after he failed to appear before court.

“He’s trying to teach me a lesson,” Cat said.

“He doesn’t care for them, they’re just pawns in this game.”

Cat says there were early warning signs that Phillips was capable of going to such extremes.

“There were things put in place that theoretically should have prevented this from happening.

“It should have been stopped a long time ago, I can’t believe that this has been allowed to happen. It’s like the system really doesn’t care.

“Regardless of what I have been saying, every step of the way nobody listened to me, I was just ignored, time and time again, minimised, gaslit and yet, look where we are.”

Cat spoke out publicly for the first time in June when police offered an $80,000 reward for information leading to the safe return of the children.

“They’re innocent, they do not deserve this,” Cat said.

Police confirmed they spoke to members of Phillips’ family about joining a public appeal for information, but they chose not to speak out.

Sightings of Phillips should be reported to police by calling 111 immediately. Information after the fact can be passed on by calling 105 or making a report online referencing the file number 230516/7295.

Jaime Lyth is a multimedia journalist for the New Zealand Herald, focusing on crime and breaking news. Lyth began working under the NZ Herald masthead in 2021 as a reporter for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei.