A fugitive, who went on the run with his three young children after a bitter battle for custody, hid them in squalid camps for almost four years and fed them vile food usually given to farm animals

Jayda, Maverick and Ember Phillips went missing with their father Thomas Phillips in December 2021(Image: New Zealand Police)

It’s been nearly four years since police starting trying to track down Tom Phillips, who went missing with his three young children back in 2021 – and now details are starting to emerge about their awful living conditions.

Phillips vanished with his three children, Jayda, Maverick, and Ember, who were all eight, seven, and five at the time, and was shot dead by police earlier this week in the small town of Marokopa, on the west coast of New Zealand’s Waikato region, after a burglary went wrong.

It has since been confirmed that he and the children were living in a muddy, makeshift camp deep in the New Zealand bush. While the camp has been described by police as ‘not very nice for children’, it also appears that Phillips was feeding them animal food.

Thomas Callam Phillips and his children were officially reported as missing by family members in December 2021(Image: New Zealand Police)

They came across bags of animal feed including three different types of maize – a barley blend, wholefeed, and kibbled feed – which is dried corn usually used to feed pigs, cows and chickens.

Police also discovered firearms and ammunition and were confronted by one of Tom Phillips’ children pointing a gun at them when they arrived. Specialist officers found 10-year-old Maverick Phillips armed as they approached the hideout, but managed to convince the boy to put it down, the New Zealand Herald reported.

A local property owner told the NZ Herald the area where the squalid campsite was discovered would have made it “very easy to hide”.

“It’s incredibly dense, dense bush,” they said. “It’s all limestone country, and so there are very few open streams. It’s all kind of really broken terrain, so very, very easy to hide. We’ve got no idea where the place is. We’ve been looking for four years. We’re all wondering where on earth this place might be.”

Police believe it was a temporary camp and the family were moving around and could have been helped by someone else. Detective Senior Sergeant Andrew Saunders said the area was ‘difficult to access, well-hidden and highlights the challenging environment the family used as their base’.

This Sept. 8, 2025 photo released by the New Zealand police, shows the campsite where Tom Phillips and his children were hiding prior to his shooting in Waitomo, in the district of Waikato, New Zealand (Image: AP)

He added: “It’s a very grim, dimly-lit area, surrounded by dense bush. The tent was well covered and dry. We are currently looking at a number of items at the site. Aside from the burglaries we are now able to link to Tom, it is apparent that he had outside help.”

Phillips disappeared into the wilderness from the family farm in Marokopa back in 201. Acting Deputy Commissioner Jill Rogers confirmed the children were unharmed but that their mental health was a top priority. In a statement she said: “While they are safe, this is the start of a long journey of recovery and their welfare remains our top priority. For that reason, we will not be going into details about where they are now or their mental state.

“We can say the children were found alone and the scene has been locked down and will be subject to a forensic examination that we expect will last several days. A significant amount of work lies ahead of us, but we are grateful to see an end to what has been three years of torment for the children’s family.”

The mother of the children, known as Cat, told local media outlet RNZ that she was “relieved” but also “saddened” by the outcome after four years of hell.

“First and foremost, we are deeply relieved that for our tamariki (children) this ordeal has come to an end,” she said, adding that the children “have been dearly missed every day for nearly four years”.

She continued: “We are looking forward to welcoming them home with love and care. At the same time, we are saddened by how events unfolded today. Our hope has always been that the children could be returned in a peaceful and safe way for everyone involved.”