CHILLING footage has emerged to show a new sighting of a fugitive dad and his gang of kids who went off-grid after robbing a bank at gunpoint.
Tom Phillips, 37, has been on the run for more than two years despite CCTV showing him trying to break into a store alongside a child in New Zealand.
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Dubbed “The Bushman”, Philips, along with his kids Jayda, 10, Maverick, nine, and Ember, seven, were reported missing from the village of Marokopa on January 18, 2022.
Police in New Zealand have attempted to locate him multiple times over the past 30 months but the expert bushman managed to escape each time.
They’re believed to be hiding in remote bushland.
While Philips has been spotted a few times after disappearing, new footage shows the fugitive dad along with his kids together for the first time since they vanished.
The clip appears to show a man leading a gang of three children in the middle of a north island farmland
Clad in trekking gear along with rucksacks, they can be seen uphill in the remote area.
The footage was shot by a group of pig hunters, 1News reports.
John McOviney, the grandfather of one of the witnesses, told the media outlet: “My grandson rang me. He was out there and they did a bit of hunting.
“[My grandson] and his friend saw this guy with three kids walking along the trail, and you know these kids today, the first thing they do is pull out a phone.
“You don’t see many adults with three kids walking around with packs on their backs in the Marokopa area without joining the dots, do you?”
The sighting is understood to have taken place on Waikato’s west coast, around 1.8 miles south of Marakopa – the family’s former home.
Cops confirmed the sighting was credible, but failed to locate the family even after an extensive search operation.
Philips is believed to have crafted a network of refuges around the area, The Times report.
In June, New Zealand cops posted a £38,500 (NZ$80,000) reward for information about the whereabouts of the missing dad and his three children.
Hundreds of armed officers alongside choppers have so far scoured the backcountry around Marokopa.
Detective Inspector Andrew Saunders said: “There’s obviously not the gold nugget … of this is where he is. We haven’t got that yet.”
He added that Phillips was armed and was a risk to the community who should not approach him.
He said: “We have concerns for the welfare of the children who have been living in isolation for the past two and a half years, with no connection to others and without formal education and healthcare.”
TIMELINE OF HIS DISAPPEARANCE
In September 2021, the dad and his three kids vanished for the first time after his truck was found abandoned at a beach.
When they appeared shortly afterwards he said they were on a camping trip.
Phillips had been due to appear in court charged with wasting police resources but failed to do so.
In January 2022 the dad and the three kids disappeared for the second time – never to reappear again.
Phillips was spotted in the farming town of Te Kuit last year when he robbed a bank at gunpoint before fleeing in a stolen motorcycle alongside a child.
A month later, in August, he was seen speeding in a stolen Toyota Hilux.
He was caught on CCTV in November with a child, trying to break into a store in Piopio.
Earlier this month he was reportedly seen in Okoroire Hot Springs Hotel in Ōtorohanga but he managed to flee before police arrived.
Concerns are growing over the state of the three children who have not seen their mum since 2021.
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