A fugitive father and his three children have been spotted together for the first time in almost three years along the west coast of New Zealand’s North Island.

Just before Christmas 2021, Tom Phillips fled into the Waikato wilderness with his children Ember, now 8, Maverick, now 9, and Jayda, now 11, after a dispute with their mother.

Phillips has not been seen since November last year after he allegedly stole a quad bike from a rural estate and broke into a shop in Piopio. CCTV footage showed two figures on the street, probably him and one of the children.

But a breakthrough in the search for the family came when the group was spotted together on the farmland of Marokopa, in New Zealand’s Waikato region, last Thursday after a chance encounter with teenage pig hunters who took out their phones and started filming.

Det Insp Andrew Saunders described the sighting as “credible”, with police believing it was Phillips and his three children, of whom he has no legal custody.

Patrols began throughout the area on Thursday evening and a search was launched the following morning, but the group has not been seen again.

“While we cannot go into detail, we would like to reassure the public that we have the resources to respond to any information or reports of sightings that come in,” Saunders said.

“Our focus is very much on the safe return of Jayda, Maverick and Ember to their whānau (family) and we are doing everything we can to make that possible.”

In September 2021, Phillips and the children were reported missing and his truck was found abandoned, resulting in a major search by land and sea.

Nineteen days later they walked into his parents’ farm just outside Marokopa, and Phillips claimed he had taken his children on an extended camping trip. He was accused of wasting police time and resources.

But less than three months later, the four were reported missing again and when Phillips failed to appear in court in January, a warrant was issued for his arrest.

The children’s mother, who last saw them in 2021, told the New Zealand Herald she was “relieved” to hear they were alive.

“I’m so glad they’re all here,” she said, immediately recognizing each child. “I am so relieved to see all three of my babies. They are all alive.”

Phillips’ mother, Julia, also told the Herald she was happy to see her grandchildren and “would like them to come home.”

“We were relieved to see the children alive and well,” she said. “We thought that would be the case, but you never know.”

John McOviney said his 16-year-old grandchild was among the pig hunters who spotted the group.

He told 1News that the teens were “only about 50 yards” away from the group when they first saw them, before approaching and speaking briefly to them.

“He said to them, ‘What are you doing here? Who are you? Does anyone else know you’re here?’ The boy said ‘just you,’ and then they just kept walking,” McOviney said.

The teens described Phillips as having a long beard and carrying a gun, McOviney said, and all the children were masked “as if they were going out into the bush for a while.”

In September 2023, an arrest warrant was issued for Phillips for an alleged aggravated robbery. Police allege two armed people entered a bank in Te Kuiti in May and demanded cash before fleeing on a black farm-style motorcycle.

An $80,000 reward for information leading to the location and safe return of the three children was announced by New Zealand police in June this year. The offer expired before they were found.

Police have previously said they believed Phillips and the children were being helped and urged “anyone doing this to stop, do the right thing and tell police what you know.”