Mother of missing children speaks out after ex-husband shot dead by police following years on the run

The mother of three children who were on the run with their father for nearly four years in the New Zealand wilderness has broken her silence after he was shot and killed by a police officer.

In December 2021, Tom Phillips disappeared with his children - Ember, nine, Maverick, 10, and Jayda, 12, following an alleged dispute with their mother.

The dad and his three children evaded investigators for four years, who scoured the densely forested area where they believed the family was hiding. Their whereabouts attracted attention from around the world as the case made headlines when they disappeared, and now it has finally come to a conclusion.

Phillips, who reportedly didn't have legal custody of his children, was shot and killed by a police officer this morning (Monday, 8 September), officials have said.

One child was with Phillips at the time of the confrontation, and the other two children were found in the forest hours after the shootout, in which a police officer was also critically injured.

The mother of the three New Zealand children who were taken on the run with their father has spoken out (YouTube/New Zealand Herald)

Phillips has not been formally identified, but authorities believe that he was the man killed. He and his children were not believed to have ever travelled far from the isolated North Island rural settlement of Marokopa, where they lived, but credible sightings of them were rare.

The officer who was critically injured was shot in the head after he confronted Phillips, who was allegedly attempting to rob an agricultural supplies store in the rural area of Waikato, south of Auckland, early on Monday morning, New Zealand’s Acting Deputy Police Commissioner Jill Rogers told reporters in the city of Hamilton.

The child with Phillips was taken into custody, and they cooperated with authorities to help locate the other two kids, who were found 'unaccompanied' at a remote campsite in rugged forest.

And now, their mother, who has been identified in the media as being called Cat, has broken her silence on her children being found.

She issued a statement to Radio New Zealand on Monday in which she said she was 'deeply relieved' that the 'ordeal' for her children had ended.

Tom Phillips and his three young children first disappeared in New Zealand back in December 2021 (New Zealand Police)

She said: "First and foremost, we are deeply relieved that for our tamariki [children] this ordeal has come to an end. They have been dearly missed every day for nearly four years, and we are looking forward to welcoming them home with love and care."

As reported by the BBC, in a statement to RNZ, a local media outlet, Cat also said she was 'saddened by the events that unfolded today', and expressed her 'deepest love' to the police officer who was injured.

She continued: "At the same time, we are saddened by how events unfolded today. Our hope has always been that the children could be returned in a peaceful and safe way for everyone involved."

Reflecting on her children's disappearance in October last year, Cat told Mata Reports: "I can't imagine what they've endured in these three years, it's just wrong on so many levels.

"The system has failed my children miserably from the get-go. They shouldn't have to live like this, they deserve so much more. They deserve to have friends, they deserve to go to the park and eat McDonald's."