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.
Almost three weeks later, Phillips returned with the children, claiming that he had taken them on a camping trip in dense bush in an effort to clear his head.
[8] Despite daily searches of land, sky, and sea, involving a plane, helicopter, jet ski, inflatable rescue boat, and heat-detecting drones, no trace was found.
[12] Phillips' sister stated that he had "wanted space to clear his head" and had been living in a tent 15 km (9.3 miles) inland from the beach where his ute had been found.
[16] With the cost of the search estimated in the hundreds of thousands of dollars,[17] Phillips was charged with wasting police resources, with a court date set for 5 November.
[24] Phillips returned home for about an hour at night on 9 February to get supplies, telling his family that the children were okay but not disclosing their location.
[26] New Zealand Police believe that the children were taken by their father to a location somewhere in the western Waikato, "within Marokopa or the surrounding areas” after a dispute with their mother.
[28][29] The older half-sisters of the Phillips children launched a petition in May, calling on the police and relevant government ministries to do more to find them.
[38][39][40][41] In September 2023, Phillips was charged with aggravated robbery, including unlawful possession of a firearms, after allegedly robbing a bank and shooting at a supermarket worker in Te Kūiti in May 2023.
[46][47] On the eldest child's eleventh birthday, the children's mother released a video pleading for the public to assist the police in their search.
[48] On 3 October 2024, Phillips and the three children were spotted walking through Marokopa farmland by a pair of pig hunters, who filmed the encounter.