Possible wanted Marokopa family sighting as search ramps up
Thursday, 13 June 2024
A woman has come forward after spotting who she thought was Tom Phillips and his three children at a Waikato hot pools.
The children have been missing since December 12, 2021 after being taken by their father.
The woman thought she saw the family two weeks ago, and police had since visited.
Police have visited a rural Waikato hotel after a tip-off about wanted Marokopa man Tom Phillips.
A receptionist at the Okoroire Hot Springs Hotel said she wasn’t sure if Phillips and his three children had been at its thermal pools, but confirmed police had visited.
Phillips and his children Jayda, 8, Maverick, 9, and Ember Phillips, 10 have been missing since December 12, 2021.
Police said the children were taken by their father “to a location unknown but thought to be in western Waikato within Marokopa or the surrounding areas”.
Marokopa is a small, remote town on Waikato’s west coast and where Phillips’ family farm is located.
Staff at the hotel, near Tīrau and about two hours drive from Marokopa, had been tasked with checking security video in the old camera system.
But the receptionist said there were only cameras in the reception, which was where visitors came to pay and grab a swipe card that let them into the hot pools.
“Which we think he might not have done,” she said.
“If he did pay, chances are we will have the footage.”
But the woman said people had been climbing the fence and breaking into the hot pools for years.
It was somewhat of a right of passage for local kids, and had been going on for generations.
She thought Phillips might have done that to avoid reception, given his status as a wanted man.
There was also a campground at the hotel, on the way down to the pools, and she said staff had searched the grounds.
But there was no sign of the Phillips family.
Later on Thursday, Acting Detective Inspector Andrew Saunders said police were continuing to assess all information coming through to police, but wouldn’t’ comment on any specific tips.
Saunders said he acknowledged there were “varying views” held about this case, but that police remained focused on the finding the Phillips children.
“We have concerns for the welfare of the children who have been living in isolation for the past two-and-a-half years, with no connection to others and without formal education and health care,” Saunders said.
He thanked the Marokopa community for their support as the investigation continues.
The NZ Herald earlier reported a woman claimed to have seen Phillips with his children in the thermal pools at the Okoroire Hot Springs Hotel about two weeks ago.
She said he had a shaved head, but what remained was bleached blonde, and a large tattoo covering the whole of his back.
Since the announcement, police said on Wednesday they’d received information via personal contact from people within the community and via the dedicated operation email overnight.
The police helicopter had also been deployed to Marokopa to help, and there were checkpoints in the vicinity of the town.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact police, either by emailing the dedicated email address op.curly@police.govt.nz or contacting police on 105 and referencing file number 211218/5611.