Mum speaks out as children who vanished three years ago are spotted in wilderness with dad

The mum of a family who went missing almost three years ago and were recently spotted again has spoken out about their recent public interaction.

On 9 December, 2021, New Zealand man Tom Phillips and his children; eight-year-old Jayda, six-year-old Maverick and five-year-old Ember disappeared.

It wasn't the first time they'd gone missing either. Earlier that year, Phillips and his three children disappeared for 19 days in September before returning, with Phillips claiming he'd taken them on a camping trip.

As a result, Phillips was charged with wasting police resources and given a court date of 12 January, but he had disappeared once again with his children over a month before that date came.

He returned to his home on 9 February for a short amount of time and told his family the children were safe, but wouldn't say where they were before leaving again.

Tom Phillips and his three children were spotted recently. (YouTube/1News)

In August 2023 he was spotted again, having stolen a Toyota Hilux and was seen shopping in the New Zealand city of Hamilton while using a mask to cover his face.

A month later he was charged in connection with an armed bank robbery which he'd been accused of carrying out with an unknown accomplice believed to be one of his children.

Phillips and his three children were just recently spotted by pig hunters who filmed the encounter and managed to speak to the family.

The children's mother Cat told the NZ Herald she was 'relieved' to see her children alive, saying: "I’m so happy that they’re all there.

“I’m so relieved to see all three of my babies. They’re all alive."

This is the first time since Phillips and his children went missing that all three children have been seen together.

The children's mother Cat said she was 'relieved' to see her children again and that she could still recognise them. (YouTube/RNZ)

According to New Zealand outlet Stuff, John McOviney said that one of his grandchildren was among the group who spoke to the Phillips family, and that Tom Phillips had a gun.

McOviney recounted his grandchild's interaction with the family: "He said to them, ‘What are you doing here? Who are you? Does anybody else know you’re here?’ The kid said ‘only you’, and then they just kept walking."

Stuff also reported that the person who answered 'only you' was Jayda, the eldest child, and there had been claims that one of the children asked 'Who else knows we're here?', but the outlet insisted that wasn't what had been said.

The pig hunters contacted the police, who launched a search but were not able to find Phillips or his three children.