Phillips family disappearances

Uncommon card · No. 178952

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 Cat. Phillips was 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. During the incident a police officer was shot in the head and shoulder, but survived. One of Phillips' children was safely recovered from the scene, and the other two were found later that day. In September 2026, a public inquiry criticised several government agencies' handling of the children's disappearances and their rescue. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon apologised to the Phillips...

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