Phillips family disappearances

Tom Phillips and his three young children disappeared from the isolated rural Waikato town of Marokopa on 9 December 2021. New Zealand Police believe that the children were taken by their father to a location somewhere in the western Waikato, after a dispute with their mother. Phillips is alleged to have committed a bank robbery in September 2023, but the first sighting of all three children with their father was on 3 October 2024, when they were spotted walking through Marokopa farmland.

In September 2025, Phillips was shot dead by police during an altercation after he was interrupted during a burglary. A police officer was shot in the head during the incident. One of Phillips' children was safely recovered from the scene, and the other two were found later that day.