{"id":368258,"date":"2026-04-07T18:42:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T18:42:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/368258\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T18:42:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T18:42:08","slug":"tom-phillips-probe-police-yet-to-arrest-those-they-believe-helped-armed-runaway-dad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/368258\/","title":{"rendered":"Tom Phillips probe: Police yet to arrest those they believe helped armed runaway dad"},"content":{"rendered":"

In response to questions from the Herald – including whether police had ascertained how Phillips had obtained a cache of firearms – staff at police National HQ said they were constrained in what they could say while the Government-initiated inquiry into the children\u2019s disappearance is ongoing. <\/p>\n

\"TomTom Phillips spent nearly four years evading authorities in rural Western Waikato. Photo \/ Mike Scott<\/p>\n

Detective Superintendent Ross McKay told the Herald police are continuing to try and identify those they believed had helped Phillips.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can say enquiries into who may have assisted Tom Phillips continue, and several people have been spoken to.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo arrests have been made to date.\u201d<\/p>\n

In late November, Attorney-General Judith Collins announced the public inquiry into whether government agencies took all practicable steps to protect the Phillips children\u2019s safety and welfare.<\/p>\n

\"PolicePolice carry out a search in bush near Marokopa where Tom Phillips had set up camp. Composite photo \/ NZ Herald<\/p>\n

The inquiry is private, without public hearings, to protect the three siblings\u2019 welfare.<\/p>\n

\u2018Giving the finger to authorities\u2019: How much help – if any – did Tom Phillips get?<\/p>\n

When Phillips was still at large, the question of who could potentially be helping him was not just on police minds – it was at the forefront of an independent search by private investigator Chris Budge.<\/p>\n

The Wellington-based former police and army officer built up an extensive profile on the fugitive at that time.<\/p>\n

\"FugitiveFugitive father Tom Phillips vanished with his three young children from the settlement of Marokopa, in south Waikato, on December 9, 2021. Photo \/ Neil Reid<\/p>\n

Just days after the deadly end to Phillips\u2019 time on the run, Budge told the Herald police had previously searched a property linked to someone who knew the fugitive dad.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey took phones, computers and bits and pieces,\u201d he said at the time.<\/p>\n

He believed Phillips had other helpers too: people who had known him since he was a child, who were \u201cat the very least transporting him around the area\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"Wellington-basedWellington-based private investigator Chris Budge tried to find Tom Phillips for more than three years and is adamant he had support to evade police.
\nComposite photo \/ NZ Herald <\/p>\n

In early December 2023, almost two years after Phillips vanished with his children, Budge talked to the Herald about his belief \u201cone or more people\u201d were helping the fugitive. <\/p>\n

\u201cPeople that are looking after Tom, they are giving the finger to the authorities,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Stories circulated in the community that a person had dropped a \u201cboot load of groceries\u201d to Phillips.<\/p>\n

\"PolicePolice Commissioner Richard Chambers was among officers who believed Tom Phillips had help. Photo \/ Mike Scott<\/p>\n

\u201cThose are the sorts of rumours and information that are flashing around,\u201d Budge said at the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are talking, but they are just not executing that into concrete information for the police to do something.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the search for Phillips, Marokopa local and former Waitomo mayor Mark Ammon was another who told the Herald he had heard theories the runaway dad had been receiving help.<\/p>\n

\"FormerFormer Waitomo mayor and Marokopa resident Mark Ammon heard rumours in the community that people were helping Tom Phillips. Photo \/ Neil Reid<\/p>\n

During that search period, police Inspector Will Loughrin told the Herald the investigation team \u201calways had a view that he has support\u201d.<\/p>\n

And, on the eve of the second anniversary of Phillips\u2019 disappearance, acting Detective Inspector Andrew Saunders reiterated to the Herald that police believed he was being helped by others, and called on them to reveal where he was.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur message to Tom Phillips, and anyone who is helping him, remains the same \u2013 do the right thing and come forward,\u201d Saunders said in December 2023.<\/p>\n

\"AA sign in front of the Phillips’ homestead near Marokopa. Photo \/ Mike Scott<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we appreciate there are certain loyalties held by people in small communities, this is not the time to keep them.\u201d<\/p>\n

After Phillips\u2019 shooting early on September 8, Police Commissioner Richard Chambers said attention would turn to identifying those who might have helped Phillips, including whether someone had supplied him with firearms he had at his bush camp.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got a lot of work to do to try and put the puzzle together in terms of those firearms … There\u2019s a lot of work to do to try and understand who, if anybody, may have been assisting Mr Phillips,\u201d he said at the time.<\/p>\n

Neil Reid<\/a> is a Napier-based senior reporter who covers general news, features and sport. He joined the Herald in 2014 and has 34 years of newsroom experience. He has spent time in Marokopa during the lengthy police hunt for Tom Phillips and his children.<\/p>\n

Sign up to The Daily H<\/a>, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In response to questions from the Herald – including whether police had ascertained how Phillips had obtained a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":368259,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[74,7814,14466,193003,1970,13239,2841,49325,690,33264,11782,9832,3234,130,111,43,139,69,10936,675,28758,1314,11786,10117,8841,131,8229,7563,61,5134,9184],"class_list":{"0":"post-368258","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-after","9":"tag-armed","10":"tag-arrest","11":"tag-assisting","12":"tag-believe","13":"tag-charged","14":"tag-country","15":"tag-dad","16":"tag-dead","17":"tag-evade","18":"tag-fugitive","19":"tag-helped","20":"tag-months","21":"tag-more","22":"tag-new-zealand","23":"tag-news","24":"tag-newzealand","25":"tag-nz","26":"tag-phillips","27":"tag-police","28":"tag-probe","29":"tag-road","30":"tag-runaway","31":"tag-shot","32":"tag-suspected","33":"tag-than","34":"tag-they","35":"tag-those","36":"tag-to","37":"tag-tom","38":"tag-yet"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=368258"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368258\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/368259"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=368258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=368258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=368258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}