Three children who had been missing for nearly four years were located in remote bushland in New Zealand after their father, wanted on multiple charges, was shot dead following a police interception, authorities said.
Police said officers found 10-year-old Maverick Phillips clutching a rifle at a campsite and convinced him to put it down during a negotiation led by trained specialists. Detective Senior Sergeant Andrew Saunders said, "There was a negotiation which commenced with the children, and that proceeded, and they came out." The two other children, Ember, 9, and Jayda, 12, are now in the care of child protection authorities.
Police Commissioner Richard Chambers described the negotiators as "very highly trained and skilled". He said officers had information that a firearm was present at the site and that Jayda helped lead police to the campsite. Jayda was reportedly with her father, Tom Phillips, when he was intercepted on a quad bike after an alleged armed robbery at a rural farm supply store. Police said they deployed road spikes and that Phillips opened fire at close range; an officer was shot in the head and remains in critical condition.
Authorities said Phillips was killed in the subsequent roadside shootout near Piopio in the Waikato region. Police towed the quad bike away and found it stocked with animal food. Photographs supplied by police of the family's final campsite showed a rudimentary shelter made from branches and tarpaulin, camouflaged belongings, soda cans, tires and a metal container. Items recovered included gas bottles, drinks and cooking equipment. Officials said the site appeared temporary and was in terrain that had been searched before.
Investigators said they will now try to "put the puzzle together" of how the family lived, sourced food and avoided detection for years. "It's highly likely that we've been very, very close," Chambers told reporters, and officers will seek to identify "anybody who may have been helping Mr Phillips."
Phillips and his children first vanished in December 2021. Police had long believed the family remained close to the tiny rural settlement where they lived in the sprawling farming region of Waikato. The disappearance followed an earlier incident three months prior when Phillips' truck was found on a beach and the family later emerged after 17 days, saying they had been camping. Phillips was charged with wasting police resources after that episode but disappeared again before he was due to appear in court. Police said he did not have legal custody of the children when he vanished.
In 2023 Phillips was wanted in connection with an armed bank robbery during which he was accompanied by one of his children and allegedly fired at a member of the public while fleeing. Police also said he appeared on CCTV committing break-ins to steal supplies, most recently in August. Despite a sizeable reward offered for information after the family's disappearance, no one provided information leading to their recovery, authorities said.
The case has divided parts of the rural community. Some residents of Marokopa, a settlement of about 40 people where Phillips had lived, reportedly expressed support for him. Commissioner Chambers rejected any suggestion of public support as justification for his actions. "No one who does this to children, no one who unleashes high-powered rifles on my staff, is a hero, simple as that," he said.
New Zealand's child protection agency was involved immediately after the children's recovery. Police Minister Mark Mitchell said officials were following a "careful plan" to ensure the children were placed on a "strong and healthy pathway to recovery," and added: "They have seen and been exposed to things that children in our country should not be. It's very complicated and it's very complex and it has been for quite some time."
A High Court judge issued a temporary injunction barring officials and news organisations from disclosing certain details of the case. Police declined to provide further information on the children's immediate location or condition, citing the injunction and the need to protect the welfare of the minors.
Authorities said the inquiry will focus on reconstructing where the family lived in the bush, how they obtained supplies and whether others assisted them. For now, investigators and social services are working to secure the children's safety and to assemble evidence related to the fatal confrontation and the broader sequence of alleged offences that preceded it.