A New Zealand woman expressed frustration after farmers located her fugitive ex-partner and three children, missing since 2021, but police failed to find them, the New Zealand Herald reported Wednesday.
Cat Phillips spoke to the outlet after footage surfaced Oct. 3 of her ex-partner, alleged bank robber Tom Phillips, with their children Jayda, 11, Maverick, 9 and Ember, 7. The four reportedly disappeared in September 2021, and were spotted Saturday near Phillips’ hometown of Marokopa on New Zealand‘s North Island.
“He’s trying to teach me a lesson,” Cat said of her ex-partner. “He doesn’t care for [the children], they’re just pawns in this game.”
A 16-year-old pig hunter working on his grandfather’s farm captured the video of individuals believed to be the missing foursome, who were backpack-laden and trudging along rugged farm terrain, the hunter’s grandfather told the outlet. He also said the children asked, “Who else knows we’re here?”
The hunter alerted police of the footage after he claimed to see Phillips armed with a gun.
WATCH: Missing fugitive New Zealand father Tom Phillips and his three children are spotted alive and well – three years after they vanished without a tracehttps://t.co/YyPK1u2wJ3 pic.twitter.com/mX8H67ZcjW
— Video Forensics (@Video_Forensics) October 9, 2024
“It was overwhelming, it was amazing, it was the best thing,” Cat said of seeing her children alive in the footage. “I just broke down…”
The sighting triggered a three-day search using aerial surveillance, but police later said they could find “nothing further of significance,” the outlet reported. (RELATED: Hundreds Of Missing Children Rescued In US Marshals Operation)
Cat bemoaned the search’s minimal progress, saying, “It’s a confirmed sighting and yet nothing has come of it,” and that finding the children seemed “out of the police’s league.”
“I would have expected them to have feet on the ground, not marked cop cars driving around the area,” she said. “I would expect them to be out there covert, not drawing attention to the situation.”
Phillips’ truck was found in the water after the quartet originally disappeared from a beach near Marokopa in 2021, triggering an extensive search and rescue operation, according to the New Zealand Herald.
Police charged Phillips with “wasting police resources” after the four returned some three weeks later, Phillips saying he needed a timeout. Authorities issued an arrest warrant after Phillips failed to appear for his December 2021 court date, having disappeared with the children a month before.
Cat made a public appeal in May 2022, alleging that someone must be helping Phillips “stay off the grid.” The missing childrens’ maternal side of the family also offered a $10,000 reward for their rescue September 2022.
Phillips allegedly robbed a bank and shot at a supermarket worker May 2023, prompting a warrant for his arrest and charges of aggravated robbery, aggravated wounding and unlawful possession of a firearm.
Police confirmed that Cat spotted a disguised Phillips in a parking lot August 2023. She chased his truck, which he had allegedly stolen, but Phillips managed to get away. Police reported 14 sightings of Phillips throughout Sept. 2023, but their searches ultimately yielded nothing.
Phillips allegedly was caught on surveillance video breaking into a shop November 2023 with one of the children. He also allegedly stole a bike from a rural property.
The police offered an $80,000 reward for information on the quartet’s whereabouts in June, but the offer expired after two weeks.
This article was originally published at dailycaller.com
