The mother of the three missing Marokopa children is clear: Tom Phillips is a criminal who is using his children as “pawns in his game”.

Cat, the mother of Jayda, Maverick and Ember Phillips, told the Herald she wants to know why more hasn’t been done to find her children after her fugitive ex-partner disappeared with them in December 2021.

She also revealed she was the one who saw Phillips at Bunnings last year, sending a photo of the ute he was driving to police.

She’s appealing to those who she suspects are helping Phillips to put a stop to what she says is “child abuse” and to tell authorities what they know.

“It doesn’t get any easier... It’s been nearly three years.

“There’s three children still missing with a criminal at large,” Cat said.

Footage emerged on Saturday of Phillips and his three children tramping in remote central North Island farmland, wearing camo gear and carrying large packs after a chance encounter with pig hunters.

“They shouldn’t have to be worrying about where they’re going to sleep that night or whether they’re going to be warm.

“It’s like every day [I’m] grieving... the loss of three childhoods, the loss of innocence, the loss of my babies, they deserve better.”

Seeing her three children alive was ‘overwhelming’

Cat was emotional when she spoke to the Herald about getting proof her three children – who she last saw in 2021 – were alive.

“It was overwhelming, it was amazing, it was the best thing.”

“I just broke down... I can’t see their faces but I can see them walking and they’re all there, and they’re capable of carrying their own bags.”

While the photos provided some solace for Cat, it proved to be short-lived as police were still unable to locate the children.

“It was like Christmas come early and I really thought they would be coming home this time.

“It’s a confirmed sighting and yet nothing has come of it.”

After a three-day search, including the use of a military helicopter, “nothing further of significance” was found according to police.

The mother of the three missing Phillips children, Cat, is “relieved” the youngsters are alive after seeing them in a video for the first time in almost three years. Photos / Supplied

Cat said it now feels like finding her three missing children is “out of the police’s league.”

“I would have expected them to have feet on the ground, not marked cop cars driving around the area.

“I would expect them to be out there covert, not drawing attention to the situation,” Cat said.

She said she was “eternally grateful” to the 16-year-old pig hunter who was brave enough to capture evidence of Phillips with the children.

“I am so grateful to him and I cannot express myself enough because so many people see things out there and they don’t have the courage to come forward.”

The young man saw Phillips was carrying a gun and didn’t take the interaction any further, but called 111 and spoke to police.

“It was better than winning Lotto,” Cat said.

Cat said that after years on the run, she wants her children to live again and “not just survive”.

‘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 doing what he did.

“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.”

The Herald cannot report details about the custody of the Phillips children because, in New Zealand, it is a prohibited to report Family Court proceedings.

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

Missing father Tom Phillips has disguised himself while shopping at Bunnings. Photo / NZ Police

Tom Phillips was driving a ute when his former partner spotted him in a Bunning car park in August 2023.

“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.

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.”

While on the run, Phillips has allegedly committed several crimes, some of which he appeared to involve the children in.

Phillips allegedly stole a quad bike from a rural Waikato property and then broke into a shop with one of his children on November 2.

Security footage from the Piopio shop shows the masked pair smashing the front glass and fleeing north after the alarm was set off about 2am.

“It’s unbelievable, really, who does that sort of thing? That should speak to a person’s frame of mind if they find that acceptable.

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

Police are searching for Tom Phillips and his three children Ember, Maverick, and Jayda, who have been missing from Marokopa since December 2021. Photo / NZME

Marokopa, missing Tom Phillips and three children. Te Anga.

She said she could understand police taking caution in their approach towards Phillips because “his mindset is scary.”

“Who might potentially get caught in the crossfire?” Cat asked.

But she believed the longer he is “allowed to carry on like this,” he was increasingly “gaining power,”

“He thinks he’s above everybody.”

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.

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

“I have friends and family, but the support I’ve had through the system has basically been non-existent.”

Cat says her two older daughters, Storm and Jubilee, have been her “rocks” while her life has been turned upside down.

“They help me get back up when I’m down and they push me along.”

It’s hard for her to talk about her children because she’s aware things will have changed after years of living in the bush without school, medical treatment and under the control of their fugitive father.

“I know what they were like before, but this is nearly three years later.

“I can only remember them as they were because that’s all I know.

“I know I know that they will still be there... It’s just gonna take a little while for them to shine like they did before.”

Cat said she knows her children, very close in age, will be looking after each other, but she wants them to know they haven’t been forgotten.

“I love them so much.

“We miss them and they’re amazing and they’re o strong and then we just, we’re waiting here, we’re waiting for them to come back.

“We’re waiting with open arms.”

“If the system had listened to me in the beginning instead of judging me based on the words of somebody who essentially has been dumped, we wouldn’t be in this situation.

“But nobody wanted to listen... but now they’re gonna hear me.”

- NZ Herald