A mother has come forward with a chilling theory after her three missing children were allegedly seen with their father, years after they vanished without a trace.
Grainy footage allegedly shows Tom Phillips with his three children.
Tom Phillips and his children—Jayda, now 11, Maverick, nine, and Ember, eight—disappeared from the remote New Zealand town of Marokopa in late 2021. Now, nearly three years later, new footage captured in October 2024 may have captured their first sighting since, according to The Guardian.
The blurry video, obtained by hunters and reported by Metro, appears to show Phillips and the children dressed in camouflage gear, navigating rugged bushland close to their former hometown. Though not officially verified, police have deemed the footage “credible.”
Catherine, the children’s mother, has tirelessly searched for them since their disappearance. Upon viewing the footage, she expressed a mixture of relief and distress—particularly after hearing what might have been a veiled cry for help from her daughter.
One of the hunters who encountered the group described an exchange with a girl believed to be Jayda:
“I said, ‘This is private property,’ and she was like, ‘Yeah… duh.’ Then I asked, ‘Does anyone know you’re on here?’ and she said, ‘No, just you guys.’”
To Catherine, those words were layered with hidden meaning.
“Is that a cry for help? Is that her way of saying, ‘Does anyone know where we are? Is anyone coming for us?’” she asked during an emotional interview.
“It’s like she’s trying to say something without saying it directly, maybe out of fear, because her father was standing right there.”
While grateful to know her children may still be alive, Catherine remains deeply worried. Ember suffers from asthma, and living in the wilderness makes access to critical medical care impossible.
“What Thomas is doing is not okay,” she previously told The New Zealand Herald. “It’s not okay to isolate and control. This is child neglect, child endangerment, child abuse. My babies deserve better.”
The family’s initial disappearance in September 2021 ended after 18 days, when they were found camping in dense bushland. But just months later, in December, they vanished again—and have remained missing ever since. The October 2024 video marks the first possible sighting of all three children together.
The situation is further complicated by Phillips’ growing legal troubles. He is now wanted for his alleged involvement in an armed bank robbery in Te Kuiti in September 2023. He also failed to appear in court in early 2022 over charges related to wasting police resources during the initial disappearance, CNN reports.
Police are continuing their search and have issued a warning to the public not to approach Phillips, who is considered potentially dangerous. Authorities have received at least 40 credible tips regarding the family’s whereabouts.
Detective Inspector Andrew Saunders confirmed that the video remains under investigation.
“While nothing further of significance was located, this is a credible sighting and the first time all three children have been seen together. That is a positive step and will bring some reassurance to their extended family,” he stated.
He also suggested that Phillips may have had help evading capture.
“We are willing to consider immunity from prosecution for anyone who has helped him, if they now come forward with information that leads to the safe return of the children,” Saunders said.
As the case continues to captivate and concern the nation, authorities and loved ones remain desperate for answers—and a safe return home for the children.
