Police have located what they believe to be the primary campsites used by high-profile fugitive Tom Phillips who had evaded police for almost four years.
Found in dense bushland on the outskirts of Waikato, in New Zealand’s northeast, the squalid campsites where Phillips lived with his three young children reveal the primitive conditions he forced them to endure. Photos show small wooden huts caked in mud, with makeshift roofs of tarpaulin, leaves, and branches draped overhead.
Various campsite items, including buckets, water containers, and rope, are also visible. Back in December 2021, in the isolated rural town of Marokopa, Phillips abducted his three kids and vanished from sight.
Police believe the children were abducted after a bitter dispute with their mother and taken somewhere in the rugged western Waikato region. Phillips, who was later believed to have carried out a bank robbery in September 2023, was first seen with all three children in October 2024, wandering through farmland.
The saga ended just last month in a violent confrontation with police. Phillips was shot dead during a burglary, and a police officer was critically injured after being shot in the head. One child was rescued from the scene, while the other two were found later that day. The injured officer is “making a slow but steady” recovery.
Pictures show the squalid conditions Phillips forced his children to endure in dense bushland. Source: NZ Police
New Zealand Police continue to investigate
Though the children have now been located, police continue to investigate how Phillips evaded detection for so long. They believe he had help from members of the public. Detective Superintendent Ross McKay said investigations indicate the Phillips family “moved regularly” between the sites found this week, the makeshift camps near Te Anga Road and other locations around Marokopa.
“For the last few weeks, police have been piecing together information and building a picture of Phillips’ movements,” he said.
“What is now clear is that Phillips moved regularly from coast to farm to bush in a complex manner that meant he was unlikely to be stumbled across. Local search and rescue staff located the new sites — one to the north of Marokopa, the other to the east — which included partially buried, semi-permanent structures concealed by large amounts of vegetation.”
Approaching Phillips in such circumstances, McKay said, would have been extremely dangerous.
“As we’ve said previously, we knew he had firearms and was motivated to use them,” he said.
Photos show small wooden huts caked in mud, with makeshift roofs of tarpaulin, leaves and branches draped overhead. Source: NZ Police
Why did it take so long to find Tom Phillips?
Investigators have taken a large number of items from the camps, all of which will undergo forensic analysis. “This is a lengthy and painstaking process, forming part of our ongoing efforts to identify anyone who may have aided Phillips,” McKay said. “We are making steady progress and believe a small number of people helped him at various points over the past four years.”
Further information about the children will not be released, police said.
Detectives have faced scrutiny from the public over their efforts to locate Phillips over the past four years, but McKay insists police had utilised an enormous amount of police resources in their efforts to apprehend the missing father.
Police say they will not release the locations of the makeshift campsites publicly. Source: NZ Police
“Police never stopped trying — thousands of hours were dedicated to the search,” he said.
“Intelligence played an important role in informing decisions and planning for possible outcomes.”
McKay said police were concerned about the weapons Phillips had, and they suspected he was willing to put his children in harm’s way, stressing the “primary objective” was to retrieve the children safely.
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