Why Was Tom Phillips On The Run? NZ Fugitive Shot Dead As Children Found Safe After 2021 Disappearance

A desperate four-year saga ended in blood and relief when Tom Phillips, the fugitive father, was fatally shot by police, while his long-missing children were finally found safe.

In the early hours of Monday, 8 September 2025, police in Piopio, a rural town in New Zealand's Waikato region, responded to a burglary at approximately 02:30 a.m. local time. They encountered two individuals on a quad bike, dressed in farm attire with headlamps — a description that had become familiar to investigators.

After placing spike strips that halted the bike, officers faced deadly force: the first officer on the scene was shot in the head at close range with a high-powered rifle. Despite critical injuries, the officer was stabilised and airlifted to Waikato Hospital.

A second officer then engaged the shooter, believed to be Tom Phillips, in a brief exchange of gunfire. Phillips was mortally wounded and died at the scene despite immediate medical aid.

Authorities had not yet formally identified the body at that time, but all signs pointed to Phillips being the deceased.

The Children Emerge From the Wilderness — Safe, At Last

One of Phillips's three children, believed to be Jayda, now 12, was found at the scene unharmed and taken into protective custody to receive emergency support. The other two children, Maverick (10) and Ember (9), were then still missing in the likely freezing bushland.

Police ramped up efforts, deploying around 50 staff, including specialist teams and aerial support, in a harrowing search as temperatures threatened to dip below freezing.

By approximately 4:30 p.m., authorities located Maverick and Ember at a remote campsite roughly 2 km from the shooting site. They were found safe and uninjured, and are now receiving medical evaluations.

Why Did Phillips Flee, and How Did He Evade Capture For Years?

Tom Phillips vanished with his children in December 2021 after a custody dispute. He and the three children were last seen near Marokopa, an isolated farming community, and quickly vanished into the Waikato wilderness, landscape rugged, forested and remote.

In early 2022, he failed to appear at a scheduled court hearing, and a warrant followed. His ute was discovered abandoned, but despite repeated searches, no trace emerged. In June 2024, police announced an NZ$80,000 (approx. £38,000) reward for information leading to the children's safe return.

A breakthrough came in October 2024, when pig hunters sighted Phillips and the children trekking across farmland, heavily armed and carrying supplies. The sighting was fleeting and yielded no arrest at the time.

In late August 2025, CCTV footage surfaced showing Phillips and one child attempting to break into a store in Piopio.

His ability to evade detection for nearly four years spoke to both his survival skills and the sheer difficulty of navigating the bush.

Voices of Grief and Relief

At a press briefing, Acting Deputy Commissioner Jill Rogers described the morning's events as 'deeply traumatic... confronting and challenging in a small, rural, isolated location.'

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon echoed the nation's sorrow: 'This is not what anybody wanted to happen today... this is sad and absolutely tragic.'

The children's mother, known only as Cat, expressed a mix of relief and heartbreak. 'Our hope has always been that the children could be returned in a peaceful and safe way for everyone involved', she said.

In the end, one of New Zealand's most mystifying missing persons cases came to a close —violently, tragically, yet with a glimmer of redemption as the children emerged from the wilderness safe, but forever changed.