Photos reveal the secret bush camps fugitive father used to hide his children
By Laura Sharman, CNN
(CNN) — Police investigating how a father hid his children from the world for almost four years in dense New Zealand wilderness have released new images of two makeshift camps where they believe the family spent most of their time.
The photos of remote bush hideouts used by Tom Phillips, who was shot dead by police last month, show two large “established” camps which were “heavily concealed” by thick vegetation, north and east of Marokopa, on the country’s western coast.
Detectives believe they served as the family’s main strongholds, enabling Phillips to navigate between the coast, farmland and wilderness with his three children ages 9 to 12.
The secret bases helped the family live undetected until police finally tracked Phillips down in the early hours of September 8, and retrieved the children from deep within the forest.
The images released Friday show a northern site with a wooden hut crafted from logs and topped with what appears to be a thatched straw roof, with its walls partially exposed to the elements.
An image of the interior shows a damp, muddy floor, a plastic bucket, two partially filled jerry cans and a thick rope tethered to a stump atop a supporting wooden pole.
An aerial shot of the eastern hideout captures it as a mere speck beneath an expansive tree canopy.
Closer images reveal a more substantial structure with a pointed roof, made from logs and foliage, housing a log table and several bags, rope and a helmet hanging from the rafters which are covered by a plastic tarpaulin.
An additional photo shows a low shelter, barely tall enough to sit upright, covered in foliage camouflaging the family’s location.
Authorities said stumbling upon these sites by chance would have been almost impossible and that approaching Phillips in such circumstances “would have been extremely dangerous.”
“As we’ve said previously, we knew he had firearms and was motivated to use them,” Detective Superintendent Ross McKay said.
Investigators have removed a haul of items from the camps for forensic examination as part of ongoing enquiries to identify anyone who might have assisted Phillips during his time on the run.
“We continue to make good progress and believe he was assisted by a small number of people at different stages over the last four years,” McKay added.
Phillips, who came from a farming family in Marokopa, disappeared with his children into the rugged wilderness during a bitter family split in December 2021.
At first, Phillips was wanted for failing to appear in court on charges of wasting police resources but, over the course of almost four years, his charge sheet grew longer and more serious, with allegations that he robbed a bank in May 2023.
Police scrambled search teams, helicopters and planes to investigate sporadic sightings until police finally confronted him on a rural road and returned gunfire when he shot and injured an officer.
The eldest child was with him when he was shot dead by police. The other two siblings were found hours later, alone at the camp.
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