The mayor of Marokopa has given his thoughts as to how a father who is on the run with his three children for the past three years has survived this long after.
Thomas Callam Phillips and his three kids - Ember, eight, Maverick, nine, and Jayda, 11 - have been missing since December 2021 when they were taken by their dad to an unknown location.
A bitter family split in New Zealand’s North Island saw Phillips flee the area with his children, despite being wanted by police for failing to appear in court on charges of wasting police resources.
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Fast forward to 2023, the fugitive father allegedly robbed a bank in May with a female accomplice, according to New Zealand Police, with both reported to have been armed.
Up until recently, search and rescue teams have had no luck finding the family.
But in what could be a breakthrough, a hunter filmed four people believed to be that of Philips and his children on 3 October on his family’s 8,500-acre property in Marokopa.
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Though the man didn't want to named, his grandfather told CNN: "The guy had a big, long beard, and the kids were all masked up, and they were carrying packs, and they weren’t very keen to talk to them at all."
Meanwhile, the mayor of the Otorohanga district, Max Baxter, has his own theory on what Phillips is up to.
"We absolutely believe that somebody, or some people, are helping them," he said. "Tom still has a number of supporters out there believing that he is doing the right thing for him and his children.
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"There’s a reason why people live at Marokopa. It’s because they love the isolation.
"They love the fact that they’re on the rugged west coast, that they can go fishing, they can hang out with like-minded people."
The children’s mother Cat took to Facebook back in June, urging people to 'help to bring my babies home'.
On the eldest child, Jayda, who is now 11, Cat said: "She will be a young woman now, and she needs her mother.
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"Ember is asthmatic as I am… she needs medical care that cannot be provided from the land."
Jubilee Dawson, the eldest sister, also said in a Mata Reports documentary: "Jayda is the more outgoing one … she’s definitely the most confident of the three … loves talking to everybody.
"Maverick is more introverted, I’d say he’s more shy … Ember is the youngest, and more sweet and bubbly.
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"We love them very much, and we are just waiting for them to come home."
Lance Burdett, the lead crisis negotiator for New Zealand Police, said: "This is not a big country we’re talking about.
"It’s very surprising that they haven’t been found, particularly since the number of sightings are in a very similar area."
Anish Vij