New Zealand Opens Major Public Inquiry After Father Hid Children in Forest; Man Killed in Police Shootout

New Zealand authorities have launched a formal, independent public inquiry after the long-running case of Tom Phillips — who disappeared with his three young children and lived in remote bushland for years before being shot dead by police following a robbery. The move responds to widespread public concern about whether government agencies did everything practicable to protect the children and to locate them during the family's disappearance.

Attorney-General Judith Collins said the inquiry will examine whether government agencies "took all practicable steps to protect the safety and welfare" of Phillips' children. The children, who were 5, 7 and 8 when they vanished in December 2021 from Marokopa on the North Island, were recovered at a makeshift campsite in September after a police operation that left Phillips dead and an officer critically injured.

Scope of the inquiry

The inquiry — a formal, independent investigation — will review events reaching back to 2018, when the children first became the subject of family court proceedings. It will assess whether agencies engaged appropriately with the family court, coordinated search efforts effectively and took all reasonable steps to find and recover the children. The inquiry is being led by former High Court judge and prominent lawyer Simon Moore, who is due to deliver a final report by July 2026.

Earlier disappearance and questions over search efforts

Public scrutiny intensified because Phillips had previously vanished with the children. Three months before the December 2021 disappearance, his truck was found abandoned on a beach and a major search was launched. Phillips resurfaced three weeks later claiming they had been camping; authorities considered charging him for wasting police resources. He disappeared again months later and did not return.

Repeated reported sightings of Phillips during the subsequent three-and-a-half-year period — including instances when he committed robberies while living rough with the children — have raised questions about the scale, timing and persistence of police and agency search efforts.

Shootout, recovery and secrecy

The case effectively ended in September when police intercepted Phillips and a child following a robbery at a rural supply store in Waitomo. During the confrontation an officer was shot at close range and later required multiple surgeries; Phillips was fatally shot by responding officers. The child who was with him assisted police in locating the campsite where the other children were found. Investigators reported finding firearms and other items at the encampments, and released images depicting bleak living conditions.

Court-imposed reporting restrictions protect some details about the children and their current whereabouts; several media organizations are challenging those restrictions in court. Officials have not publicly disclosed the children's present location, citing their privacy and welfare.

Public reaction and next steps

The case has provoked intense national debate and international attention, prompting calls for transparency about what agencies knew and why earlier appeals for public assistance were not made. The inquiry will test whether authorities acted appropriately and will offer recommendations to prevent similar situations in the future.