Police have received emails, calls and visits from people claiming to have information about a missing man and his three children after a reward was offered yesterday.
An $80,000 reward for information on missing Marokopa man Tom Phillips and his three children that leads to their location and safe return was announced by police yesterday.
Ember, 8, Maverick, 9, and Jayda, 10, have been missing since December 2021, when they were taken by Phillips to an unknown location - though police believe it was in Western Waikato within Marokopa or the surrounding areas.
Acting Detective Inspector Andy Saunders told RNZ this appeal was aimed at the people they believed had been helping Phillips to hide.
Police are looking for Tom Phillips after the wanted man and one of his children were captured on CCTV smashing the window of a business in Piopio. Photo / NZ Police
“This is targeted at those people with direct information as to the whereabouts of the children.”
Police were also offering the possibility of immunity from prosecution to anyone with information.
“The important aspect of this is the safe return of the children, that’s our main focus,” Saunders said.
He said police had received emails, calls, and had community members engage with them since yesterday’s announcement.
Officers were now sifting through all the information and prioritising it “to see what value it is”.
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It was too soon to say whether any of the information was credible, Saunders said.
He said police believed the family were in a dwelling, rather than living rough, but hadn’t been able to find them over the past two-and-a-half years despite several sightings and a number of locations of interest being identified.
Ōtorohanga’s Mayor Max Baxter told RNZ he was hopeful this would be enough for someone helping the family to come forward.
An $80,000 reward has been put up to find the three children who have been missing for two and a half years. Photo / NZME
“$80,000 is a lot of money for anybody who’s living out at Marokopa. In fact, $80,000 is a lot of money for anybody. I’m hoping the reward is enough to change the attitude of those people that may be withholding information.”
The general consensus in the community was that somebody must be assisting Phillips, Baxter said.
“Marakopa itself doesn’t need to be identified for this reason alone, so let’s just hope people put their hand up and come forward now,” he said.
-RNZ
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