Fresh hunt for father and children in New Zealand wilderness

New Zealand police are launching a fresh operation in the North Island wilderness to find a fugitive father and his three children who have been missing for more than three years.

- Eva Corlett

Just before Christmas 2021, Tom Phillips fled into a remote area of Waikato with his children, Ember, thought to be now aged nine, Maverick, 10, and Jayda, 11, after a dispute with their mother. Phillips does not have legal custody of his children.

Phillips comes from a farming family in Marokopa – a coastal settlement of fewer than 100 people in the vast Waikato region where he and his children are presumed to be hiding.

"Police will be present in the wider Marokopa area over the next few days," Detective Senior Sergeant Andy Saunders said. "This has not been prompted by any specific sighting – it is simply a continuation of the ongoing investigation."