New Zealand Police have admitted they can’t yet explain one unusual discovery made after the death of fugitive father Tom Phillips, who spent almost four years hiding in the wilderness with his three children.
Officers revealed that a collection of shoeboxes was discovered strapped to the 45-year-old’s quad bike, after he was shot dead during a confrontation in western Waikato on Monday morning.
Phillips had been on the run with his children, Ember, 9, Maverick, 10, and Jayda, 12, since December 2021, following a custody dispute with their mother, Cat.
Police Commissioner Richard Chambers called the shoebox discovery a “very interesting” detail, per Daily Mail.
“We know that Mr Phillips has been the suspect in a number of burglaries,” he said.
“At the moment, one of the things that we’ll be doing is obviously connecting the dots and trying to better understand where equipment, clothing, whatever it may be, has come from.”
The fugitive father was killed after he and Jayda were caught stealing from a PGG Wrightson farm supply store in the rural town of Piopio.
A witness called police around 2:30am, describing them as wearing farm clothing and headlamps.
After fleeing on their quad bike, Phillips was stopped about 33km away when officers deployed road spikes on Te Anga Road.
He fired a high-powered rifle, critically injuring a lone officer, before being fatally shot when backup arrived.
Jayda was taken into custody at the scene.
With her help, police found her younger siblings at a campsite two kilometres away.
Photos released from the bush site showed the rough conditions the family had endured, with quad bikes hidden among trees, blankets draped for shelter, and Sprite cans resting on tyres.
Multiple firearms were also seized.
“Our investigation will help determine what other modes of transport he may have used or others may have helped with,” Commissioner Chambers said.
“No one who does this to children, no one who unleashes high-powered rifles on my staff is a hero. Simple as that.”
The officer shot by Phillips underwent surgery for serious head and shoulder injuries. “It was very, very close for him,” Chambers said.
Officials confirmed the children are now safe.
“They have seen and been exposed to things that children in our country should not be,” Police Minister Mark Mitchell said.
“There’s a careful plan with everyone becoming involved at the right time in terms of making sure that they’re put on a really strong and healthy pathway to recovery.”
Warwick Morehu, Oranga Tamariki’s regional commissioner, shared: “I can confirm that the children are settled, they are doing well under the circumstances and engaging with the staff," adding: "They are settled, they are comfortable. They are together. I want to assure you all that these tamariki (children) will be provided with whatever help [and] assistance they may need for however long they may need it.”
Their mother, Cat, said she was relieved but heartbroken by how the ordeal ended.
“They have been dearly missed every day for nearly four years, and we are looking forward to welcoming them home with love and care,” she said.
“At the same time, we are saddened by how events unfolded today. Our hope has always been that the children could be returned in a peaceful and safe way for everyone involved.”
Over the years, Phillips had been linked to armed robberies and repeated burglaries, including one in 2023 where he allegedly opened fire on a civilian.
Despite an $80,000 reward and multiple search operations, he remained undetected in the rugged bushland - an environment locals described as “incredibly dense, dense bush” with “broken terrain” that made him difficult to track.
Chambers admitted police may have been “very, very close” to finding him during earlier searches, but his survival skills and access to transport allowed him to evade capture.
“What we located the other day is a site that can easily be shifted,” he said.
Acting Deputy Commissioner Jill Rogers confirmed Phillips’ body will undergo a post-mortem before being released to his family.
Mitchell said the late dad had “multiple high-powered firearms” and was “very unstable in his thinking.”
He added: “I think the whole country has seen play out in the last 24 hours just how dangerous the situation was and how it could have ended an even worse tragedy, and that would have been the loss of one, two or three young lives.”