Four years on the run. Four years of camping, wet feet, scavenging for food, struggling to survive. And now, the added trauma of losing their father in a police shootout. In the aftermath of fugitive Tom Phillips' death in rural New Zealand, focus is now on his three children, who've been living in the bush since December 2021. "The biggest worry in the community around New Zealand is about whether the children can come through this," Waitomo Mayor John Robertson tells CNN. "It's just gone on too long and the children will be hugely impacted." Jayda, 12; Maverick, 10; and Ember, 9; are now in the care of authorities, though it's unclear who will care for them long term.
Focus is also on the unknown persons who offered help to the fugitive. "It is apparent that he had outside help," detective senior sergeant Andrew Saunders said Wednesday, per the Guardian, after identifying a main campsite used by the family in recent months. After Phillips was killed Monday in sight of his eldest child, Jayda led authorities to a well-concealed bush camp, about a mile away, where her two siblings were found safe. But authorities say it was a makeshift camp. The main camp was located about 200 meters away. Images appear to show a tent, propane tank, and various other supplies.
Though Phillips was a skilled bushman who grew up hunting pigs in the area, many locals were amazed the family survived for so long out of doors, enduring freezing temperatures at times. Though some assumed they would've settled in an abandoned barn or holiday home, there's no evidence of that. Investigators are now working to determine how Phillips acquired many of his supplies, including a stockpile of firearms. Though he's known to have committed a series of burglaries—including the latest at a farm store in Piopio, which proved to be his downfall—Saunders said authorities would analyze items at the campsite in an effort to find "those people that have been supporting Tom Phillips and hold them accountable."
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