A case that has gripped New Zealand for yearspublished at 06:06 British Summer Time
06:06 BST
Vandhna Bhan
BBC News
This is a case that has gripped New Zealand for years now. I first started covering it in September 2021, when Phillips disappeared in the week that he was meant to be looking after the kids.
What followed was a massive search effort from New Zealand police that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Twenty days later, Phillips appeared with the kids back home, with no explanation on their disappearance.
He was charged with causing wasteful deployment of police resources and spending.
But before he was due to appear in court, he disappeared with the children again, in December that year.
He was spotted coming home for supplies in February 2022, after which there was no word on him for more than a year.
In 2024, police offered a $80,000 reward for information on him. But that also did not come to anything, until now.