Tragic Conclusion: Four-Year Manhunt for New Zealand Bushman and His Children Ends in Shootout

Sat Sep 13 2025 13:09:01 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)

The search for Tom Phillips and his three children has come to a devastating end as police fatally shoot Mr. Phillips after a lengthy evasion. Details emerge about their mysterious disappearance and recent encounters.

After a four-year search, New Zealand bushman Tom Phillips, who went missing with his three children, has been shot and killed by police during a confrontation, ending a saga filled with unanswered questions about their escape and survival in the wilderness. The children have been located and are now in the care of authorities.

On 11 September 2021, Tom Phillips and his three children went missing for the first time. His Toyota Hilux was found parked below a tide line at a beach near his parents' home in Marokopa on New Zealand's North Island. Police launched a massive search operation by land, sea and air.

Less than three weeks later, the family returned home, with the father claiming they had been on a camping trip. Then, on 12 December that year, they vanished again. Aside from a few chance sightings and grainy frames of CCTV footage, the bushman and his three children had not been seen since.

That was, until the early hours of Monday morning, when police responding to a report of an attempted burglary entered into a shoot-out that resulted in Mr. Phillips' death, ending a four-year manhunt.

Many questions about his disappearance remain, including why he took his children and disappeared into New Zealand's harsh wilderness, and whether he was able to evade capture for so long by having help.

When Mr. Phillips returned home for the first time in 2021, he was charged with wasting police resources. The search effort over the harsh, unforgiving landscape of the western Waitomo region had cost New Zealand authorities hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Police did not launch a fresh search the second time he and his three children - Ember, Maverick, and Jayda, aged five, seven and eight, respectively, at the time - went missing. When he failed to appear at a court appearance on 12 January 2022, police issued a warrant for his arrest.

Mr. Phillips was known to be a bushman who had some survival training. Locals in Marokopa have said he was someone who wanted to be off the grid and had not been on any social media platforms.

Police believed he and his children had survived out in the dense wilderness surrounding Marokopa. However, it seems Mr. Phillips and his children could not survive in the bush on their wits alone.

When Mr. Phillips was shot on Monday, police said they found multiple firearms and other loot on his quad bike. They believe he was being aided in his evasion by others.

During the shootout, an officer was shot in the head and remains in serious condition, while Mr. Phillips died at the scene. The child who was with him was unharmed and provided police with information that led them to the other two children, who were found at a remote campsite between Marokopa and Te Kuiti in near-freezing conditions.

The children are now being cared for by the authorities.