Today marks three years since Tom Phillips went missing from Marokopa for a second time with his three children Jayda, Maverick and Ember.
Phillips had disappeared with the three children once earlier, in September 2021. Police launched an extensive search before the four family members returned, and Phillips was charged with wasting police resources. Then, the group disappeared for a second time on December 12, 2021.
Ever since, efforts to locate the fugitive family have been frustrated. Phillips lost custody of the children and faces more charges in connection with an alleged bank robbery. The group have only been seen together once in the past three years, when they were caught on video in October this year.
Acting Detective Inspector Andrew Saunders said this morning that police have “real concerns” about how Phillips might react when he’s found.
“It’s just that time away, isolated, minimal social contact — other than with his children — and his determination to avoid being located.”
Saunders told 1News: “The environment out there, it’s very challenging for police.
“That’s probably been one of our biggest difficulties, operating in that environment.
“There’s also the risk that Tom poses. We’ve got to make sure our staff are safe whenever we go out there.
“And really, he’s living off the grid. No phones, no electronics — so that makes it more challenging for us from an investigation point of view.”
Saunders said police have worked with multiple agencies on the case, “from within police and externally”.
Watch an extended interview with Andrew Saunders on TVNZ+
“We’re doing absolutely everything we can.”
The rugged landscape around Marokopa was unlike the environments police normally operated in, he added.
“That’s the first thing. There’s a lack of communication ability out there … when we put our staff out there, we need to make sure they’re safe and they can communicate with us, and we have to use specialist squads for any type of searching we do, given the risk that Tom poses.
“Any searching that gets done, we can’t just use general police or search and rescue staff. While they can operate in that terrain, it’s the risk that is posed by Tom.
“I know, for example, that a lot of the people are saying, why don’t we just flood the area with lots of people and go searching?
“That’s too much of a risk for us around Tom.
“Our main focus, as I’ve said, is bringing the children out safely and we’ve got to make sure we’re not doing anything where Tom could react to what we do.”
Saunders was asked whether police were concerned Phillips might harm himself or his children.
“Those are always our concerns. It’s always what we’re thinking about and that determines how we proceed on the investigation.
“Going back to our focus — it’s bringing the children out safely.”
